A6RIC. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 


TENTH  CENSUS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

FRANCIS    A.    WALKER, 

SUPERINTENDENT. 


THE  HISTORY  AND  PRESENT  CONDITION 


OF  THE 


FISHERY   INDUSTRIES 


PREPARED     UNDER    THE     DIRECTION     OF 

PROFESSOR  S.  F.  BAIRD, 

U.   S.    COMMISSIONER    OF  FISH  AA'D  FISHERIES, 


G.  BROWN  GOODE, 

ASSISTANT  DIRECTOR  V.  S.  NATIONAL  UTSEJ7X. 


THE  SEAL-ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


BY 


HENRY   W.    ELLIOTT 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 
1881. 


v   .  /: 


South  Wr*{   P1 


S  W  Pom! 


PROFILE    of   Ih.-     SOUTH    S1I 


Otli-r     I'1 


W.lrm    !•> 


6  - 


STPA1TL 

Prvbilov  Group.     Bering     Sea:    Alaska. 

Surveyed  and  drawn   April   1873-  Julv  1874- 

Vr 
Henrv   "W     Elliott 


Statute   Uilrs  . 


nal   Area  of     S"    Paul    33    >ij    m  K   m     »hor»   line-      /SI   •> 

Reef     Point  57     08  (XV  N  Lat.     17O°  12.   OO:  W  Lonj 

SW  .  57"     11    1J  >."  Lat      170=19    O3."  VT  Lon«. 

X    K  .  37'    IP   04  .X  Lat      170:00    O2:  W  L 

Otler     1  57*   03   OO'  X  Lat      17<  W  Ltin« 

Valrus  I.  57.'     11    "S  X  Lat      169;  49     OS.'  W  Lonf 

C*-Hindiu^s    bv  Cajrt    J    C     Baker.  V  >   Rpr     Uai-tn«     lit 


Julius  Bic-n.lttb  >~  Y 


EXPLANATORY  NOTES  AND  COMMENTS  UPON  THE  MAP  OF  ST.  PAUL  ISLAND. 

ST.  PAUL. — This  name  was  given  to  the  island  because  it  was  descried  for  the  first  time  on  St.  Paul's  Day,  July  10,  1787,  by  the 
Russian  discoverers.  [June  29,  Justinian  calendar.] 

DEFINITIONS  FOR  RUSSIAN  NAMES  OF  THE  ROOKERIES,  ETC. — The  several  titles  on  the  map  that  radicate  the  several  breeding-grounds, 
owe  their  origin  and  have  their  meaning  as  follows : 

ZAPADNIE  signifies  "  westward"  and  is  so  used  by  the  people  who  live  in  the  village. 
ZOLTOI  signifies  "golden",  so  used  to  express  the  metallic  shimmering  of  the  sands  there. 
KETAVIE  signifies  "of  a  tchale",  so  used  to  designate  that  point  where  a  large  right  whale  was  stranded  in  1849  (T) ;  from  Russian  "  Jceet", 

OT  "whale". 
LUKAJTNON. — So  named  after  one  Lukannon,  a  pioneer  Russian,  who  distinguished  himself,  with  one  Kaiecov,  a  countryman,  by  capturing 

a  large  number  of  sea-otters  at  that  point,  and  on  Otter  island,  in  1787-'88. 
TOXKIE  MEES  signifies  "small  (or  "slender")  cape"  [tonkie,  "thin";  mees,  "cape"]. 
POLAVINA  literally  signifies  "halfway",  so  used  by  the  natives  because  it  is  practically  half  way  between  the  salt-houses  at  Northeast 

Point  and  the  village.    POLAVTSA  SOPKA,  or  "half-way  mountain'',  gets  its  name  in  the  same  manner. 
NOVASTOSHNAH,  from  the  Russian  "  novaiie",  or  "  of  recent  growth",  so  used  because  this  locality  in  pioneer  days  was  an  island  to  itself; 

and  it  has  been  annexed  recently  to  the  main  land  of  St.  Paul. 

VESOLIA  MISTA.  or  "jolly  place",  the  site  of  one  of  the  first  settlements,  and  where  much  carousing  was  indulged. 
MAROOXITCH,  the  site  of  a  pioneer  village,  established  by  one  Maroon. 
NAHSAYVERNIA,  or  "on  the  north  shore",  from  Russian  "saytemie". 
BOGA  SLOV,  or  "  word  of  God",  indefinite  in  its  application  to  the  place,  but  is,  .perhaps,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  pious  Russians,  immediately 

after  landing  at  Zapadnie,  in  1787,  ascended  the  hill  and  erected  a  huge  cross  thereon. 
EINAHNUHTO,  an  Aleutian  word,  signifying  the  "three  mamma". 
TOLSTOI,  a  Russian  name,  signifying  "thick";  it  is  given  to  at  least  a  hundred  different  capes  and  headlands  throughout  Alaska,  being 

applied  as  indiscriminately  as  we  do  the  term  "Bear  creek"  to  little  streams  in  the  western  states  and  territories. 

THE  PROFILE  OF  ST.  PAUL. — That  profile  of  the  south  shore,  between  the  Village  Hill  and  Southwest  Point,  taken  from  the  steamer's 
anchorage  off  the  Village  cove,  shows  the  characteristic  and  remarkable  alternation  of  rookery  slope  and  low  sea-level  flats.  This  point 
of  viewing  is  .slightly  more  than  half  a  mile  true  west  of  the  Village  hill,  to  a  sight  which  brings  Boga  Slov  summits  and  Tolstoi  head 
nearly  in  line.  At  Zapadnie  is  the  place  where  the  Russian  discoverers  first  landed  in  1787,  July  10.  With  the  exception  of  the  bluffy 
west  end,  Ein-ahnnh-to  cliffs,  the  whole  coast  of  St.  Paul  is  accessible,  and  affords  an  easy  landing,  except  at  the  short  reach  of  "Seethah" 
and  the  rookery  points,  as  indicated.  The  great  sand  beach  of  this  island  extends  from  Lukaunon  to  Polavina,  thence  to  Webster's  house, 
Xovastoshnah ;  from  there  over,  and  sweeping  back  and  along  the  north  shore  to  Nahsayvernia  headland,  then  between  Zapadnie  and 
Tolstoi,  together  with  the  beautiful  though  short  sand  of  Zoltoi.  This  extensive  and  slightly  broken  sandy  coast  is  not  described  as 
peculiar  to  any  other  island  in  Alaska,  or  of  Siberian  waters. 

FKESH- WATER  LAKES. — There  are  no  running  streams  at  any  season  of  the  year  on  St»  Paul ;  but  the  abundance  of  fresh  water  is 
plainly  presented  by  the  numerous  lakes,  all  of  which  are  "svayjoi",  save  the  lagoon  estuary.  The  four  large  reefs  which  I  have  located 
are  each  awash  in  every  storm  that  blows  from  seaward  over  them;  they  are  all  rough,  rocky  ledges.  That  little  one  indicated  in  English 
bay  caused  the  wrecking  of  a  large  British  vessel  in  1847,  which  was  coming  in  to  anchor  just  without  Zapadnie;  a  number  of  the  crew 
were  "maaslucken",*  so  my  native  informant  averred. 

DRIFT-WOOD. — Most  of  the  small  amount  of  drift-wood  that  is  found  on  this  island  is  procured  at  Northeast  Point,  and  Polavina ;  the 
north  shore  from  Maroonitch  to  Tsammanah  has  also  been  favored  with  sea- waif  logs  in  exceptional  seasons,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other 
sections  of  the  coast.  The  natives  say  that  the  St.  George  people  get  much  more  drift-wood  every  year,  as  a  rule,  than  they  do  on 
St.  Paul.  From  what  I  could  see  during  my  four  seasons  of  inspection,  they  never  have  got  much,  under  the  best  of  circumstances,  on 
either  island.  They  pay  little  attention  to  it  now,  and  gather  what  they  do  during  the  winter  season,  going  to  Polavina  and  the  north 
shore  with  sleds,  on  which  they  hoist  sails  after  loading  there,  and  scud  home  before  the  strong  northerly  blasts. 

Captain  Erskine  informs  me  that  the  water  is  free  and  bold  all  aronnd  the  north  shore,  from-Cross  hill  to  Southwest  Point;  no  reefs  or 
shoals  up  to  within  a  half  a  mile  of  land  anywhere.  English  bay  is  very  shallow,  and  no  sea-going  vessel  should  attempt  to  enter  it,  that 
draws  over  6  feet. 

AUTHORITIES  FOR  LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE. — All  the  positions  of  latitude  and  longitude  which  I  place  upon  this  map  are  taken  from 
Captain  Archimandritov's  manuscript  chart.  During  the  whole  month  of  July,  1874,  while  I  was  herewith  the  "Reliance",  there  was  not  a 
single  opportunity  for  a  solar  observation,  although  Captain  Baker  made  several  attempts  to  make  some.  Captain  Erskine,  however,  has 
verified  Archimandritov's  work,  and  says  that  it  is  very  near  the  correct  thing.  I  could  have  taken  observations  easily  in  the  occasional 
clear  November  days  of  1872,  but,  unfortunately,  the  chronometer  which  I  had,  proved  so  defective  that  I  abandoned  the  labor. 

How  TO  REACH  WALRUS  ISLET. — To  visit  Walrus  island  in  a  boat,  pleasantly  and  successfully,  it  is  best  to  submit  to  the  advice  and 
direction  of  the  natives.  They  leave  the  village  in  the  evening,  and,  taking  advantage  of  the  tide,  proceed  along  the  coast  as  far  as  the 
bluffs  of  Polavina,  where  they  rest  on  their  oars,  doze  and  smoke,  until  the  dawning  of  daylight,  or  later,  perhaps,  until  the  fog  lifts  enough 
for  them  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  islet  which  they  seek ;  they  row  over  then  in  about  two  hours  with  their  bidarrah.  They  leave,  however, 
with  perfect  indifference  as  to  daylight  or  fog;  nothing  but  a  southeaster  can  disturb  their  tranqnility  when  they  succeed  in  landing  on 
Walrus  island.  They  would  find  it  as  difficult  to  miss  striking  the  extended  reach  of  St.  Paul  on  their  return,  as  they  found  it  well 
nigh  impossible  to  push  off  from  Polavina  and  find  "Morzovia"  in  a  thick,  windy  fog  and  running  sea. 

OTTER  ISLET:  SLIGHT  CORRECTION. — Otter  island,  or  "Bobrovia",  is  easily  reached  in  almost  any  weather  that  is  not  very  stormy,  for 
it  looms  up  high  above  the  water.  It  takes  the  bidarrah  about  two  hours  to  row  over  from  the  village,  while  I  have  gone  across  once  in 
a  whale  boat  with  less  than  one  hour's  expenditure  of  time,  sail  and  oars,  en  route.  A  slight  mistake  of  the  engraver  causes  Crater  point 
to  appear  as  a  bifurcated  tongue.  It  is  not  so;  but  there  is  a  funnel-shaped  cavity  here  plainly  emarginated  from  the  sea,  and  on  that 
extreme  point,  constituting  and  giving  to  it  this  name. 

•Anything  missing,  or  beyond  human  ken.  in  the  Aleutian  rernacnlar  is  "maaalncken". 


PHOKIJ.K    of     3T  GEORGE 


Showing   the   rt-lativt-   position  or  the 
SEAL     ISLANDS 


Tol.to;  Jim 


ligh    Bluffs  Palnoi 


un  Vees'  bearing"   V   S  W     -    m 


"SoHh"        i"       i     "Little  Eastern  ' 


Tolstoi 


Head 


- 


ST  GEORGE, 

Prvbilov   Group.    Berin-j;'    Sea,    Al;i-k.i 

ved  and  drawn    April    1873  -  Julv  187+. 
Henrv     W     Elliott 


Area   ocrupufd    ttj   C    frnmt^     a*  'MatJuiq    Grousttit ' 


Superficial    area   C7  *q.m:  ?>  m  ca 
frUr  2*  at'  «*«*  OfnifttfJ  t>,  -  - 


ToUtoi  Me<-s  56:  37'Ol'XLat  169-  27'  VT  I.one 
DaJnoi  Mees  56t  38"  OTX  Lat  169-  44'"\Vl-OTi« 
Villaen  56"  39'  16" X  Lai  169=  19'  V  Long 

Water    d*ep    and    bold   all    aroti nd  Island  16  tt» to  fih s 


EXPLANATORY  NOTES  AND  COMMENTS  UPON  THE  MAP  OF  ST.  GEORGE  ISLAND. 

ST.  GEORGE. — This  title  was  given  to  the  island  by  its  discoverer  in  honor  of  his  vessel,  the  sloop  "St.  George". 

SALIENT  FEATURES  OF  THE  TOPOGRAPHY  :  INACCESSIBLE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  COAST. — The  profile  which  I  give  of  this  island  presents 
clearly  the  idea  of  that  characteristic,  bold,  abrupt  elevation  of  St.  George  from  the  sea.  From  the  Garden  cove  around  to  Zapadnie 
beach,  there  is  not  a  single  natural  opportunity  for  a  man  to  land;  then,  again,  from  Zapaduie  beach  round  to  Starry  Ateel  there  is  not 
one  sign  of  a  chance  for  an  agile  man  to  come  ashore  and  reach  the  plateau  above.  From  Starry  Ateei  to  the  Great  Eastern  rookery  there 
is  au  alternation,  between  the  several  breeding-grounds,  of  three  low  and  gradual  slopes  of  the  land  to  sea-level;  these,  with  the  landing 
at  Garden  cove  and  at  Zapadnie,  are  the  only  spots  of  the  St.  George  coast  where  we  can  come  ashore.  An  active  person  can  scramble 
up  at  several  steep  places  between  the  Sea  Lion  rookery  and  Tolstoi  Mees,  but  the  rest  of  that  extended  bluffy  sea-wall,  which  I  have  just 
defined,  is  wholly  inaccessible  from  the  water.  A  narrow  strip  of  rough,  rocky  shingle,  washed  over  by  every  storm-beaten  sea,  is  all  that 
lies  beneath  the  mural  precipices. 

PRETTY  CASCADE  AT  WATERFALL  HEAD. — In  the  spring,  when  the  snow  melts  on  the  high  plateau,  a  beautiful  cascade  is  seen  at 
Waterfall  head;  the  feathery,  filmy,  silver  ribbon  of  plunging  water  is  thrown  out  into  exquisite  relief  by  the  rich  background  of  that 
brownish  basalt  and  tufa  over  which  it  drops.  Another  pretty  little  waterfall  is  to  be  seen  jnst  west  of  the  village,  at  this  season 
only,  where  it  leaps  from  a  low  range  of  bluffs  to  the  sea;  the  first  named  cascade  is  more  than  400  feet  in  sheer  unbroken  precipitation. 

One  or  two  small,  naked,  pinnacle  rocks,  standing  close  in,  and  almost  joined  to  the  beach  at  the  Sea  Lion  rookery,  constitute  the  only 
outlying  islets  or  rocks;  a  stony  kelp  I  ed  at  Zapadnie,  and  one  off  the  Little  Eastern  rookery,  both  of  limited  reach  seaward,  are  the 
only  hinderances  to  a  ship's  sailing  boldly  round  the  island,  even  to  scraping  the  bluffs,  at  places,  safely  with  her  yard-arms.  I  have 
located  the  Zapadnie  shoal  by  observation  from  the  bluffs  above ;  while  Captain  Baker,  of  the  "Reliance'1,  sounded  out  the  other. 

AUTHORITIES  FOR  LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE. — The  observations  which  fix  the  positions  of  Tolstoi  and  Dalnoi  Mees  are  taken  from 
Russian  authority  (Captain  Archimandritov),  while  the  location  of  the  village  was  made  by  Lieutenant  Washburn  Maynard  and  myself,  in 
1874,  together  with  the  degrees  of  variation  to  the  compass ;  we  used  an  artificial  horizon ;  the  overcast  weather  prevented  onr  verification  of 
the  two  other  points  given. 

TREND  OF  OCEAN  CURRENTS  HERE. — Although  small  quantities  of  drift-wood  lodge  on  all  points  of  the  coast,  yet  the  greatest  amount 
is  found  on  the  south  shore,  and  thence  around  lo  Garden  cove;  this  drift-timber  is  usually  wholly  stripped  of  its  bark,  principally  pine 
and  fir  sticks,  some  of  them  quite  large,  18  inches  to  2  feet  in  diameter.  Several  years  occur  when  a  large  driftage  will  be  thrown  or  stranded 
here;  then  long  intervals  of  many  seasons  will  elapse  with  scarcely  a  log  or  stick  coming  ashore.  I  found  at  Garden  cove,  in  Jnne,  1873, 
the  well  preserved  husk  of  a  cocoauut,  cast  up  by  the  surf  on  the  beach;  did  I  not  know  that  it  was  most  undoubtedly  thrown  over 
by  some  whaler  in  these  waters,  not  many  hundred  miles  away  at  the  farthest,  I  should  have  indulged  in  a  pretty  reverie  over  its  path 
in  drifting  from  the  South  seas  to  this  lonely  islet.  I  presume,  however,  that  the  timber,  which  the  sea  brings  to  the  Pribylov  islands,  is 
that  borne  down  upon  the  annual  floods  of  the  Kuskokvim  and  Nushagak  rivers,  on  the  mainland,  and  to  the  east-northeastward,  a  little 
more  than  225  miles ;  it  comes,  however,  in  very  scant  supply.  I  saw  very  little  drift-wood  on  St.  Matthew  island :  but  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  St.  Lawrence  there  was  an  immense  aggregate,  which  unquestionably  came  from  the  Yukon  month. 

SPOT  OF  PRIBYLOV'S  LANDING. — One  of  the  natives,  "stareek",  Zachar  Oostigov  ("the  president"),  told  me  that  the  "Russians,  when 
they  first  lauded,  came  ashore  in  a  thick  fog",  at  Tolstoi  Mees,  near  the  present  Sea  Lion  rookery  site.  As  the  water  is  deep  and  bold 
there,  Pribylov's  sloop,  the  "St.  George",  must  have  fairly  jammed  her  bowsprit  against  those  lofty  cliffs  ere  the  patient  crew  had 
intimation  of  their  position.  The  old  Aleut  then  showed  me  the.  steep  gully  there,  up  which  the  ardent  discoverers  climbed  to  the  plateau 
above;  and  to  demonstrate  that  he  was  not  chilled,  or  weakened  by  age,  he  nimbly  scrambled  down  to  the  surf  below,  some  350  vertical 
feet,  and  I  followed,  half  stepping  and  half  sliding  over  Pribylov's  path  of  glad  discovery  and  proud  possession,  trodden  one  Jnne  day  by 
him,  nearly  a  hundred  years  ago. 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  BETTER  LOADING  AND  DISCHARGING  A  CARGO. — With  regard  to  the  loading  and  unloading  of  the  vessels  at  St.  George, 
I  believe  that  it  would  be  wise  and  economical  to  grade  a  wagon-road  over  from  the  village  to  Garden  cove;  I  think  so  because  weeks  and 
weeks  consecutively  have  passed,  to  my  personal  knowledge,  between  the  unloading  and  the  loading  of  the  steamer;  when,  during  all 
that  season  of  weary,  anxious  waiting  for  the  surf  to  quiet  down  at  the  village  lauding,  there  was  not  a  single  day  in  which  the  ship 
could  not  have  discharged  or  received  her  cargo  easily  and  expeditiously  on  the  sand  beach  at  Garden  cove.  When  the  "St.  Paul"  has 
75,000  seal-skins  in  her  hold,  taken  on  at  the  larger  island,  then  has  to  pound-"  off  and  on"  here,  in  fog  and  tempest,  for  a  week  or  two, 
or  even  longer,  waiting  for  a  chance  to  get  the  20,000  or  25,000  St.  George  skins  (ready  for  her)  in  turn,  her  cargo  is  too  costly  to  risk  in 
this  manner,  inasmuch  as  the  difficulty  can  be  readily  obviated  by  the  cart-road  I  have  indicated.  The  natives  could  and  would  hitch 
themselves  into  large  hand-carts,  and  thus  draw  the  skins  across  and  supplies  back,  with  the  aid  of  a  mule  or  two  on  the  stiff  grade;  this 
would  occur  in  ascending  Ahlnckeyak  ridge  from  the  village,  and  also  up  a  short  one  again  rising  from  Garden  cove  to  the  mesa  tops. 
The  distance  is  only  2}  to  3J  miles,  and  2  miles  of  that  is  nearly  tit  for  wheels,  as  it  lies  to-day.  I  think,  seriously,  this  should  be  done; 
it  may  save  or  prevent  in  the  future  the  loss  of  a  valuable  ship  and  her  priceless  cargo  of  human  life  and  all  its  belongings.  Thick 
fogs  and  howling  gales  of  wind,  are  dangerous  and  chronic  here. 

WHAT  THE  SKETCH-MAP  snows.— The  sketch-map  of  Alaska,  which  I  have  inserted  in  the  lower  corner  of  this  chart  of  St.  George, 
is  to  show,  better  than  any  language  can,  the  relative  position  of  these  celebrated  seal-islands;  and  also  to  give  a  clear  idea  of  their 
isolation  and  great  distance  from  Sitka,  where  most  of  our  people  think  all  Alaska  is  centered.  In  fact,  Sitka,  as  far  as  trade  and  resources 
and  population  are  concerned,  is  one  of  the  most  insignificant  spots  known  to  that  country.  Kadiak,  Oonga,  Belcovskie,  and 
Oonalashkaoach  have  a  greater  civilized  population  than  has  Sitka  to-day,  and  each  has  a  hundred-fold  more  importance  as  a  trade-center. 
As  tl-e  ship-sails,  the  Pribylov  islands  are: 

2.250  miles  W.  \.  W.  from  San  Francesco. 
1,500  miles  W.  X.W.  from  Vancouver  island,  straits  of  Fuca. 
1,400  miles  W.  X.W.  from  Sitka. 
550  miles  S\V.  X.  W.  from  Kadiak. 
192  miles  X.  X.  \V.  from  (Xmalashka. 
•     700  miles  E.  X.  E.  from  Commander  islands,  Russian  territory. 

All  these  distances  are  via  Oonalashka.  save  the  last  one. 


SECTION    IX   [MONOGRAPH  A].  . 


A  MONOGRAPH  OF  THE  PRIBYLOY  GROUP, 


OR  THE 


SEAL-ISLANDS   OF  ALASKA. 


BY 


HEISTRY    TV.   ELLIOTT. 


WITH  TWENTY-NINE  PLATES,  TWO  MAPS,  AND  TWELVE  SKETCH-MAPS  OP  THE 
ISLANDS  AND  THE  ROOKERIES  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


ANALYSIS. 


A.  INTRODUCTION. 

1.  History  and  objects  of  the  memoir •- .- 5 

B.  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION. 

2.  Geographical  distribution  of  the  fur-seal -. 6 

C.  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. 

3.  Discovery  of  thePribylov  islands.     [Se«  also  31.] 8 

4.  Description  of  the  Pribylov  islands.     [See  also  25-33.] 9 

D.  THE  OCCUPANTS  OF  THE  ISLANDS. 

5.  The  natives  of  the  islands.     [See  also  39  F.] 19 

6.  The  Alaska  Commercial  Company.     [See  also  37.]  . — 24 

7.  The  business  concerned 26 

E.  THE  SEAL-LIFE  ON  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. 

8.  The  hair  seal .' 28 

9.  Life-history  of  the  fur-seal 29 

10.  The  "hollnschickie"  or  "bachelor"  seals — a  description 43 

11.  Description  of  the  fur-seal  rookeries  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George 48 

12.  Manner  of  taking  the  seals — 70 

13.  Manner  of  caring  for  and  shipping  the  fur-seal  skins.     [See  also  4.] •. — 76 

14.  Economic  valne  of  the  skins,  oil,  and  flesh  of  the  fur-seal 80 

F.  THE  SEA-LION,  Eumetoptas  Stelleri. 

15.  Life-history  of  the  sea-lion ............. 84 

16.  Capture  of  the  sea-lion 89 

17.  Economic  uses  of  the  sea-lion 91 

0.  THE  WALRUS  OF  BF.RIXG  SEA,  Odobainus  obemvi. 

18.  Life-history  of  the  walrus 92 

H.    A   BRIEF    RF.VIKW   OF   OFFICIAL   REPORTS   UPON   THE    CONDUCT  OK   AFFAIRS   ON   THE   SEAL-ISLANDS. 

19.  Special  investigations  of  Lieut.  Washbnrn  Mayuard,  U.  S.  N '. 102 

20.  Synopsis  of  Lieut.  Maynard's  investigations ......  102 

21.  Epitome  of  special  reports  upon  the  seal-islands  in  the  archives  of  the  Treasury  Department 109 

1.  ILLUSTRATIVE  AND  SUPPLEMENTAL  NOTES. 

22.  The  Russian  seal-islands,  Bering  and  Copper,  or  the  Commander  group 109 

23.  St.  Matthew  island  and  its  relation  to  St.  Paul  ..  115 

* 

24.  Digest  of  the  data  in  regard  to  the  fur-seal  rookeries  of  the  South  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  and  number  of  skins  taken 

therefrom — ....*. 117 

25.  Catalogue  of  the  mammals  of  the  Pribylov  group 124 

26.  Catalogue  of  the  birds  of  the  Pribylov  group. 125 

27.  Catalogue  of  the  fishes  of  the  Pribylov  group 136 

28.  Notes  on  the  invertebrates 137 

29.  Notes  on  the  plants 138 

30.  Veniaminov  on  the  Russian  seal-industry  at  the  Pribylov  islands 140 

31.  Veniaminov's  account  of  the  discovery  of  the  Pribylov  islands 145 

32.  History  of  the  organization  of  the  Russian-American  Fur  Company  148 

33.  Meteorological  abstract  for  th~e  months,  from  September,  1872,  to  April,  1873,  inclusive 149 

34.  The  method  of  dressing  the  fur-seal  skin 151 

35.  Bering,  not  Behring ., - — .  151 

36.  The  law  protecting  the  seal-islands 153 

37.  The  organization  and  regulations  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company l-r>4 

38.  Comments  upon  the  legislation  of  Congress 157 

39.  Paragraphs  of  reference  relative  to  subjects  discussed  in  the  preceding  memoir,  and  referred  to  as  "Note  39" 158 

40.  Final  notes  and  tables  relative  to  the  value,  protection,  and  growth  of  the  fur-seal;  and  the  revenue  derived  from  that 

industry  on  the  Pribylov  islands 165 

GLOSSARY. 

41.  Definition  of  technical  terms  and  Russian  nomenclature,  used  by  the  author  in  the  preceding  monograph 173 

42.  Weights,  measures,  and  values 1~5 

3 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page. 

MAP  OF  ST.  PAUL.      >  „ 
MAP  OF  ST.  GEORGE,  j  Frontispieces. 

PLATE          I. — Profiles  of  the  east  coast  of  St.  Paul 19 

II. — Meat  frames,  lighter,  hut 21 

III. — Typical  dress  of  the  native 23 

IV.— The  hair-seal,  Phoca  vitulina 28 

V. — Tbe  countenance  of  Callorhinus 29 

VI. — The  fur-seal — a  general  group 32 

VII. — The  natives  selecting  a  drive 45 

VIII. — Sundry  sketches  from  the  author's  portfolio 47 

IX.— The  north  shore  of  St.  Paul  island 57 

X. — Tbe  north  rookery,  etc.,  St.  George  island 61 

XI. — Pelagic  attitudes  of  the  fur-seal , 65 

XII. — "Holluschickie"  sporting  around  the  baidar „   67 

XIII. — Natives  driving  the  "Holluschickie" 71 

XIV.— The  killing  gang 73 

XV. — Keuching  seal-skins 77 

XVI.— The  sea-lion,  Eumetopias  Stellen 85 

XVII.— The  black  sea-lion,  Zalophus  (rillespti 87 

XVIII.— Springing  the  alarm 89 

XIX. — The  sea-lion  corral  or  pen : 91 

XX. — Spearing  the  surround;  driving,  and  shooting  old  males 93 

XXI. — The  walrus  of  Bering  sea 95 

XXII. — Plunging  the  harpoon ., 97 

XXIII.— The  walrus  "coup" 99 

XXIV.— The  Eskimo  double  purchase 101 

XXV.— Walrus  islet : 103 

XXVI. — The  Landseer  and  Edward  figures  of  the  fur-seal 109 

XXVII. — Sea-bird  egging  over  cliffs  of  St.  George — 125 

XXVIII. — Sea-bird  egging  at  Walrus  island 127 

XXIX.— The  Fulmar's  niche 135 

4 


THE  SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


A.  INTRODUCTION. 

1.  HISTORY  AND  OBJECTS  OF  THE  MEMOIR. 

THE  WRITER'S  OPPORTUNITIES  FOR.OBSERVATION. — During  the  progress  of  the  heated  controversies  that  took 
place  pending  the  negotiation  which  ended  in  the  acquisition  of  xYlaska  by  our  government,  frequent  references  wero 
made  to  the  fur-seal.  Strange  to  say,  this  animal  was  so  vaguely  known  at  that  time,  even  to  scientific  men,  that  it 
was  almost  without  representation  in  any  of  the  best  zoological  collections  of  the  world:  even  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  did  not  possess  a  perfect  skin  and  skeleton.  The  writer,  then  as  now,  an  associate  and  collaborator  of 
this  establishment,  had  his  curiosity  very  much  excited  by  those  stories,  and  in  March,  1872,  he  was,  by  the  joint 
action  of  Professor  Baird  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  enabled  to  visit  the  Pribylov  islands  for  the  purpose 
of  studying  the  life  and  habits  of  these  animals. 

The  fact  is,  that  the  acquisition  of  those  pelagic  peltries  had  engaged  thousands  of  men,  and  that  millions  of 
dollars  have  been  employed  in  capturing,  dressing,  and  selling  fur-seal  skins  during  the  hundred  years  just  passed 
by ;  yet,  from  the  time  of  Steller,  away  back  as  far  as  1751,  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  last  decade,  the  scientific 
world  actually  knew  nothing  definite  in  regard  to  the  life-history  of  this  valuable  animal.  The  truth  connected  with 
the  life  of  the  fur-seal,  as  it  herds  in  countless  myriads  on  the  Pribylov  islands  of  Alaska,  is  far  stranger  than  fiction. 
Perhaps  the  existing  ignorance  has  been  caused  by  confounding  the  hair-seal,  Plioca  vitulina,  and  its  kind,  with 
the  creature  now  under  discussion.  Two  animals  more  dissimilar  in  their  individuality  and  method  of  living  can, 
however,  hardly  be  imagined,  although  they  belong  to  the  same  group,  and  live  apparently  upon  the  same  food. 

The  notes,  surveys,  and  hypotheses  herewith  presented  are  founded  upon  the  writer's  personal  observations 
in  the  seal-rookeries  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  during  the  seasons  of  1872  to  1874,  inclusive,  supplemented 
by  his  confirmatory  inspection  made  in  1876.  They  were  obtained  through  long  days  and  nights  of  consecutive 
observation,  from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  each  seal  season,  and  cover,  by  actual  surveys,  the  entire  ground 
occupied  by  these  animals.  They  have  slumbered  in  the  author's  portfolio  until  the  present  moment,  simply  for  the 
reason  that  he  desired,  before  making  a  final  presentation  of  the  history  of  these  islands  and  the  life  thereon,  to  visit 
the  Russian  seal-islands,  the  "Commanders",  viz,  Bering  and  Copper  islands,  which  lie  to  the  westward,  700  miles 
from  our  own,  and  are  within  the  pale  of  the  czar's  dominion. 

PREVIOUS  OBSERVATIONS  OF  STELLER  AND  OTHERS. — In  treating  this  subject  the  writer  has  trusted  to 
nothing  save  what  he  himself  has  seen;  for,  until  these  life-studies  were  made  by  him,  no  succinct  and  consecutive 
history  of  the  lives  and  movements  of  these  animals  had  been  published  by  any  man.  Fanciful  yarns,  woven  by  the 
ingenuity  of  whaling  captains,  in  which  the  truth  was  easily  blended  with  that  which  was  not  true,  and  short 
pa  rag  i  aphs  penned  hastily  by  naturalists  of  more  or  less  repute,  formed  the  knowledge  that  we  had.  Best  of  all  was 
the  old  diary  of  Steller,  who,  while  suffering  bodily  tortures,  the  legacy  of  gangrene  and  scurvy,  when  wrecked  with 
Vitus  Bering  on  the  Commander  islands,  showed  the  nerve,  the  interest,  and  the  energy  of  a  true  naturalist.  He 
daily  crept,  with  aching  bones  and  watery  eyes,  over  the  bowlders  and  mossy  flats  of  Bering  island,  to  catch  glimpses 
of  those  strange  animals  which  abode  there  then  as  they  abide  to  day.  Considering  the  physical  difficulties  that 
environed  Steller,  the  notes  made  by  him  on  the  sea-bears  of  the  North  Pacific  are  remarkably  good;  but,  as  I  have 
said,  they  fail  so  far  from  giving  a  fair  and  adequate  idea  of  what  these  immense  herds  are  and  do,  as  to  be  absolutely 
valueless  for  the  present  hour.  Shortly  after  Steller's  time,  great  activity  sprang  up  in  the  South  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  over  the  capture  and  .sale  of  fur-seal  skins  taken  in  those  localities.  It  is  extraordinary,  that  though  whole 
fleets  of  American,  English,  French,  Dutch,  and  Portuguese  vessels  engaged,  during  a  period  of  protracted  enterprise, 
of  over  eighty  years  in  length,  in  the  business  of  repairing  to  the  numerous  rookeries  of  the  Antarctic,  returning 

5 


THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

,  l;uU':)  whX>  enormous  cargoes  of  fur-seal  skins;  yet,  aa  above  mentioned,  hardly  a  definite  line  of  record 
lias  been  made  in  regard  to  the  whole  transaction,  involving,  as  it  did,  so  much  labor  and  so  much  capital. 

FORMER  PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  WRITER. — A  brief  digest  of  the  writer's  notes,  relating  principally  to  the 
business  on  the  islands,  was  prepared  and  given  to  the  Treasury  Department  in  1873-'74.  This  was  printed  by  the 
Secretary,  and  has  been  the  text  of  guidance,  as  to  observation,  employed  by  the  agents  of  the  government  ever 
since.  The  maps  and  sketch-maps  are  herewith  accordingly  given  to  the  public  for  the  first  time;  the  author, 
fearing  that  private  and  personal  affairs,  which  now  confine  him,  may  possibly  never  permit  his  going  over  to  the 
Asiatic  rookeries,  thinks  it  perhaps  better  that  what  he  now  knows  definitely  in  regard  to  the  matter  should  be 
published  without  longer  delay. 

It  was  with  peculiar  pleasure  that  the  writer  undertook,  at  the  suggestion  of  Professor  Baird,  who  is  the 
honored  and  beloved  secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  the  task  of  examining  into  and  reporting  upon  this 
subject;  and  it  is  also  gratifying  to  add,  that  the  statements  of  fact  and  the  hypotheses  evolved  therefrom  by  him 
in  1874,  have,  up  to  the  present  time,  been  verified  by  the  inflexible  sequence  of  events  on  the  ground  itself.  The 
concurrent  testimony  of  the  numerous  agents  of  the  Treasury  Department  and  the  government  generally,  who  have 
trodden  in  his  footsteps,  amply  testifies  to  their  stability.  (See  note,  39,  A.) 


B.     GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

2.  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  FUR-SEAL. 

PECULIARITIES  OF  DISTRIBUTION.— Our  first  thought  in  studying  the  distribution  of  the  fur-seals  throughout 
the  high  seas  of  the  earth,  is  one  of  wonder.  While  they  are  so  widely  spread  over  the  Antarctic  regions,  yet,  as 
we  pass  the  equator  going  north,  we  find  in  the  Atlantic  above  the  tropics  nothing  that  resembles  them.  Their 
range  in  the  North  Pacific  is  virtually  confined  to  four  islands  in  Bering  sea,  namely,  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  of 
the  tiny  Pribylov  group,  and  Bering  and  Copper  of  the  Commander  islands,  large  in  area,  but  relatively  scant  in 
seal-life. 

The  remarkable  discrepancy  which  we  have  alluded  to  may  be  better  understood  when  we  consider  that  these 
animals  require  certain  conditions  of  landing  and  breeding  ground  and  climate,  all  combined,  for  their  perfect  life 
and  reproduction.  In  the  North  Atlantic  no  suitable  territory  for  their  reception  exists,  or  ever  did  exist;  and  really 
nothing  in  the  North  Pacific  beyond  what  we  have  designated  in  Bering  sea  will  answer  the  requirements  of  the 
fur-seal.  When  we  look  over  the  Antarctic  waters,  we  are  surpiised  at  what  might  have  been  done,  and  should  have 
been  done,  in  those  southern  oceans.  There  we  find  hundreds  of  miles  of  the  finest  seal-breeding  grounds  on  the 
western  coast  of  Patagonia,  the  beautiful  reaches  of  the  Falkland  islands,  the  great  extent  of  Desolation  island,' 
together  with  the  whole  host  of  smaller  islets,  where  these  animals  abounded  in  almost  countless  numbers  when 
first  discovered,  and  should  abound  to-day — millions  upon  millions — but  which  have  been,  through  nearly  a  century 
the  victims  of  indiscriminate  slaughter,  directed  by  most  unscrupulous  and  most  energetic  men.  It  seems  well-nigh 
incredible,  but  it  is  true,  nevertheless,  that  for  more  than  fifty  years  a  large  fleet,  numbering  more  than  sixty  sail, 
and  carrying  thousands  of  active  men,  traversed  this  coast  and  circumnavigated  every  island  and  islet,  annually 
slaughtering  right  and  left  wherever  the  seal-life  was  found.  Ships  were  laden  to  the  water's  edge  with  the  fresh, 
air  dried,  and  salted  skins,  and  they  were  swallowed  up  in  the  marts  of  the  world,  bringing  mere  nominal  prices — 
the  markets  glutted,  but  the  butchery  never  stopping'. 

THE  SEAL  GROUNDS  IN  THE  SOUTHERN  HEMISPHERE. — I  will  pass  in  brief  review  the  seal-grounds  of  the 
southern  hemisphere.  The  Galapagos  islands  come  first  in  our  purview ;  this  scattered  group  of  small  rocks 
and  islets,  uninhabited  and  entirely  arid,  was,  fifty  years  ago,  resorted  to  by  a  viry  considerable  number  of 
these  animals,  Arctocephulus  auxtralis,  together  with  many  sea-lions,  Otaria  Hookeri;  great  numbers  were  then 
captured  by  fur-sealers,  who  found  to  their  sorrow,  when  the  skins  were  inspected,  that  pelage  was  poor  and 
worthless.  A  few  survivors,  however,  remain  to  this  day. 

Along  and  off  the  coast  of  Chili  and  Bolivia  are  the  St.  Felix  and  Juan  Fernandez  islands,  the  latter  place 
being  one  of  the  most  celebrated  rookeries  known  to  Antarctic  sealers.  The  west  coast  of  Patagonia  and  a  portion 
of  that  of  Terra  del  Fuego  was,  in  those  early  dajs  of  seal-hunting,  and  is  to  day,  the  finest  connected  range  of 
seal-rookery  ground  in  the  south.  Here  was  annually  made  the  concentrated  attack  of  that  sealing  fleet  referred 
to ;  and  one  can  readily  understand  how  thorough  must  have  been  the  labor,  as  he  studies  the  great  extent  and 
deep  indentation  of  this  coast,  its  thousand  and  one  islands  and  islets,  and  when  he  sees  to-day  that  there  is 
scarcely  a  rookery  of  fur-seals  known  to  exist  there.  The  Falkland  islands,  just  abreast  of  the  straits  of  Magellan, 
were  also  celebrated,  and  a  favorite  resort,  not  only  of  the  sealers,  but  of  the  whale  fleets  of  the  world.  They  are 
recorded,  in  the  brief  mention  made  by  the  best  authority,  as  fairly  swarming  with  fur-seals  when  they  were  opened 
up  by  Captain  Coo'c.  There  is  today,  in  the  place  of  the  millions  that  once  existed,  an  insignificant  number, 
taken  notice  of  only  now  and  then. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  7 

The  Georgia  islands  and  the  Sandwich  group,  all  a  succession  of  rocky  islands  and  reefs  awash — the  South 
O.  kneys,  the  Shetlauds,  the  Auckland  group,  Campbell's  island,  Emerald  island,  and  a  few  islets  lying  just  to  the 
southward  of  New  Zealand — have  all  been  places  of  lively  and  continued  butchery;  the  fur-seals  ranging  in 
desperation  from  one  of  those  places  to  the  other  as  the  seasons  progressed,  and  the  merciless  search  and  slaughter 
continued.  These  pinnipeds,  however,  never  went  to  the  southward  of  62°  south  latitude. 

In  considering  the  western  Antarctic  hemisphere,  I  must  not  forget  also  to  mention,  that  the  fur-seal  was  in 
early  times  found  up  the  east  coast  of  South  America,  here  and  there  in  little  rookeries,  as  far  north  as  cape  St. 
Roque;  but  the  number  was  unimportant,  when  brought  into  contrast  with  that  belonging  to  those  localities  which 
I  have  designated.  A  small  cliff-bound  rookery  to  day  exists  at  cape  Corientes.  This  is  owned  and  farmed  out 
by  the  Argentine  republic,  and  we  are  informed  that  in  spite  of  all  their  care  and  attention  they  have  neither 
increased  nor  have  they  diminished  from  their  original  insignificance;  from  this  rookery  only  three  to  five  thousand 
were  and  are  annually  taken.  It  appears  as  if  the  fur-seals  had  originally  passed  to  Bering  sea  from  the  parent 
stock  of  the  Patagonia  region,  up  along  the  coast  of  South  America,  a  few  tarrying  at  the  dry  and  heated  Galapagos 
islands,  the  rest  speeding  on  to  the  northward,  disturbed  by  the  clear  skies  and  sandy  beaches  of  the  Mexican 
coast,  on  and  up  to  the  great  fish-spawning  shores  of  the  Aleutian  islands  and  Bering  sea.  There,  on  the  Pribylov 
group  and  the  bluffy  Commander  islands,  they  found  that  union  of  cool  water,  well-adapted  lauding,  and  moist, 
fojgy  air  which  they  had  missed  since  they  left  the  storm-beaten  coasts  far  below. 

In  the  Antarctic  waters  of  the  eastern  hemisphere  seals  were  found  at  Tristan  dar  Cunha,  principally  on  Little 
Nightingale  island,  to  the  southward  of  it;  on  Gough's  island;  on  Bouvet's  island;  Prince  Edward  and  Marion 
islands ;  the  Crozette  group,  all  small  rocks,  as  it  were,  over  which  violent  storms  fairly  swept ;  then  we  observe 
the  great  rookeries  of  Kergueleu  land,  or  Desolation  island — where  perhaps  nine-tenths  of  all  the  oriental 
fur-seals  congregated — thence  over  to  a  small  and  insignificant  islet  known  as  the  Royal  Company,  south  of  Good 
Hope.  This  list  includes  all  the  known  resting-places  of  the  fur-seal  in  those  waters. 

FORMER  ABUNDANCE  IN  THE  SOUTHERN  HEMISPHERE  :  EXTENT  OF  EXTERMINATIONS. — In  the  light  of  the 
foregoing  remarks,  is  it  not  natural,  when  we  reflect  upon  the  immense  area  and  the  exceedingly  favored  conditions 
of  ground  and  climate  frequented  by  the  fur-seals  of  the  Southern  ocean,  to  say  that  their  number  must  have  been 
infinitely  greater  as  they  were  first  apprehended,  surpassing  all  adequate  description,  when  compared  to  those 
which  we  now  regard  as  the  marvel  and  wonder  of  the  .age — the  breeding  rookeries  of  the  Pribylov  group  f 

It  is  a  great  pity  that  this  work  of  extermination  and  senseless  destruction  should  have  progressed  as  it  has 
to  the  very  verge  of  total  extinction,  ere  any  one  was  qualified  to  take  note  of  and  record  the  wonderful  life 
thus  eliminated.  The  Falkland  islands  and  Kerguelcn  land,  at  least,  might  have  been  placed  under  the  same 
restrictions  and  wholesome  direction  which  the  Russians  established  in  the  North  seas,  the  benefits  of  which  accrue 
to  us  to-day,  and  will  forever,  as  matters  are  now  conducted.  Certainly  it  is  surprising  that  the  business  thought, 
the  hardheaded  sense,  of  those  early  English  navigators,  should  not  have  been  equal  to  that  of  the  Russian. 
Promyshleniks,  who  were -renowned  as  the  most  unscrupulous  and  the  greediest  of  gain-getters. 

POSSIBILITIES  FOR  PROTECTION. — The  Falkland  islands  offer  natural  conditions  of  protection  by  land  far 
superior  to  those  found  on  the  Pribylov  or  Commander  groups.  They  have  beautiful  harbors,  and  they  lie  in  the 
track  of  commerce,  advantages  which  are  not  shared  by  our  islands ;  at  Desolation  island,  perhaps,  the  difficulties 
are  insuperable  on  account  of  the  great  extent  of  coast,  which  is  practically  inaccessible  to  men  and  nearly  so  to 
the  seals;  but  the  Falkland  islands  might  have  been  farmed  out  by  the  British  government  at  a  trifling  outlay  and 
with  exceeding  good  result;  for,  millions  upon  millions  of  the  fur-seals  could  rest  there  to-day,  as  they  did  a  hundred 
years  ago,  and  be  there  to-morrow,  as  our  seals  do  and  are  in  Bering  sea.  But  the  work  is  done.  There  is  nothing 
down  there,  now,  valuable  enough  to  rouse  the  interest  of  any  government;  still,  a  beginning  might  be  made,  which 
possibly  forty  or  fifty  years  hence  would  rehabilitate  the  scourged  and  desolated  breeding-grounds  of  the  South  seas. 
\Ve  aie  selfish  people,  however,  and  look  only  to  the  present,  and  it  is,  without  question,  more  than  likely  that 
should  any  such  proposition  be  brought  before  the  British  parliament  it  would  be  so  ridiculed  and  exaggerated  by 
demagogues  and  ignorant  jesters  as  to  cause  its  speedy  suppression ;  hence,  in  our  opinion,  it  is  not  at  all  likely 
that  the  English  government,  or  any  of  the  other  governments  controlling  these  many  islands  of  the  Southern 
ocean,  which  we  have  named,  will  ever  take  a  single  step  in  the  right  direction,  as  far  as  the  encouragement  of  the 
fur  seal  to  live  and  prosper  in  those  regions  is  concerned.  When  we  look  at  our  northern  waters  we  speedily 
recognize  the  fact,  that  between  North  America  and  Europe,  across  the  Atlantic  and  into  the  Arctic,  there  is  not  a 
single  island  or  islet  or  stretch  of  coast  that  the  fur-seal  could  successfully  struggle  for  existence  on.  These  facts 
will  become  entirely  clear  when  the  chapter  on  the  habit  of  this  animal  is  reached. 

ISOLATION  OF  THE  NORTH  PACIFIC  ROOKERIKS. — In  the  North  Pacific,  in  prehistoric  times,  a  legend  from 
Spanish  authority  states,  that  fur-seals  were  tolerably  abundant  on  the  Santa  Barbara  and  Guadaloupe  islands,  off 
the  coast  of  California,  and  the  peninsula  to  the  southward.  A  few  were  annually  taken  from  these  islands,  up  to  1835 
and  some  were  wont  to  sport  on  those  celebrated  rocks  off  the  harbor  of  San  Francisco,  known  as  the  Farraloues; 
ut  no  tradition  locates  a  seal-rookery  anywhere  else  on  the  northwest  coast,  or  anywhere  else  in  all  Alaska  and  its 
islands,  save  the  Pribylov  group:  while  across  and  down  the  Asiatic  coast,  only  the  Commander  islands  and  a  little 


8  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

rock*  in  the  Kurile  chain  have  been  and  are  resorted  to  by  them.  The  crafty  savages  of  that  entire  region,  the 
hairy  Ainos  of  Japan,  and  the  Japanese  themselves,  have  for  a  hundred  years  searched  and  searched  in  vain  for 
such  ground. 

COMMERCIAL  IMPORTANCE  OP  THE  ALASKA  ROOKERIES. — To  recapitulate,  with  the  exception  of  these  seal- 
islands  of  Bering  sea,  there  are  none  elsewhere  in  the  world  of  the  slightest  importance  to-day ;  the  vast  breeding- 
grounds  bordering  on  the  Antarctic  have  been,  by  the  united  efforts  of  all  nationalities — misguided,  short-sighted, 
and  greedy  of  gain — entirely  depopulated ;  only  a  few  thousand  unhappy  stragglers  are  now  to  be  seen  throughout 
all  that  southern  area,  where  millions  once  were  found,  and  a  small  rookery  protected  and  fostered  by  the 
government  of  a  South  American  state,  north  and  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata.  When,  therefore,  we 
note  the  eagerness  with  which  onr  civilization  calls  for  sealskin  fur,  the  fact  that,  in  spite  of  fashion  and  its  caprices, 
this  fur  is  and  always  will  be  an  article  of  intrinsic  value  and  in  demand,  the  thought  at  once  occurs,  that  the 
government  is  exceedingly  fortunate  in  having  this  great  amphibious  stock -yard  far  up  and  away  in  the  'quiet 
seclusion  of  Bering  sea,  from  which  it  shall  draw  an  everlasting  revenue,  and  on  which  its  wise  regulations  and  its 
firm  hand  can  continue  the  seals  forever. 


C.    THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. 

3.    DISCOVERY  OF  TOE  PEIBYLOV  ISLANDS. 

SEARCH  OF  RUSSIAN  EXPLORERS  FOR  SEA-OTTERS  AND  SEALS. — All  writers  on  the  subject  of  Alaskan 
exploration  and  discovery,  agree  as  to  the  cause  of  the  discover}'  of  the  Pribylov  islands  in  the  last  century.  It 
was  due  to  the  feverish  anxiety  of  a  handful  of  Russian  fur-gatherers,  who  desired  to  find  new  fields  of  gain  when 
they  had  exhausted  those  last  uncovered.  Altasov,  and  his  band  of  Russians,  Tartars,  and  Kossac-ks, 'arrived  at 
Kamtchatka,  toward  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  they  first  found  of  all  men,  the  beautiful,  costly,  rare 
fur  of  the  sea-otter.  The  animal  bearing  this  pelage  abounded  then  on  that  coast,  but  by  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  they  and  those  who  came  after  them  had  entirely  extirpated  it  from  that  country.  Then  the  survivors  of 
Bering's  second  voyage  of  observation,  in  1741-'42,  and  Tscherikov  brought  back  an  enormous  number  of  skins  from 
Bering  island  ;  then  Michael  Novodiskov  discovered  Attoo,  and  the  contiguous  islands,  in  1745 ;  Paikov  came  after 
him  and  opened  out  the  Fox  islands,  in  the  same  chain,  during  1759;  then  succeeded  Stepan  Glotov,  of  infamous 
memory,  who  determined  Kakiak  in  1703,  and  the  peninsula  of  Alaska  followed  in  order  by  Kreuitsiu,  1708.  During 
these  long  years,  from  the  discovery  of  Attoo  until  the  last  date  mentioned  above,  a  great  many  Russian  associations 
fitted  out  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arnoor  river,  and  the  Okotsk  sea,  and  prospected  therefrom  this  whole  Aleutian 
archipelago  in  search  of  the  sea-otter.  There  were  perhaps  twenty-five  or  thirty  different  companies,  with  quite  a 
fleet  of  small  vessels,  and  so  energetic  and  thorough  were  they  in  their  search  and  capture  of  the  sea-otter,  that 
along  by  1772  and  1774  the  catch  in  this  group  had  dwindled  down  from  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  at  first, 
to  hundreds  and  tens  of  hundreds  at  last.  As  all  men  do  when  they  find  that  that  which  they  are  engaged  in  is 
failing  them,  a  change  of  search  and  inquiry  was  in  order,  and  then  the  fur-seal,  which  had  been  noted  but  not/ 
valued  much,  every  year  as  it  went  north  in  the  spring  through  the  passes  and  channels  of  the  Aleutian  chain,  then 
going  back  south  again  in  the  fall,  became  the  source  of  much  speculation  as  to  where  it  spent  its  time  on  land  and 
how  it  bred.  Nobody  had  ever  heard  of  its  stopping  one  solitary  hour  on  a  single  rock  or  beach  throughout  all 
Alaska  or  the  northwest  coast.  The  natives,  when  questioned,  expressed  themselves  as  entirely  ignorant,  though 
they  believed,  as  they  believe  in  many  things  of  which  they  have  no  knowledge,  that  these  seals  repaired  to  some 
unknown  land  in  the  north  every  summer  and  left  every  winter.  They  also  reasoned  then,  that  when  they  left  the 
unknown  laud  to  the  north  in  the  fall,  and  went  south  into  the  North  Pacific,  they  traveled  to  some  other  strange 
island  or  continent  there,  upon  which  in  turn  to  spend  the  winter.  Naturally  the  Russians  preferred  to  look  for  the 
supposed  winter  resting-places  of  the  fur-seal,  and  forthwith  a  hundred  schooners  and  shallops  sailed  into  storm 
and  fog  to  the  northward  occasionally,  but  generally  to  the  southward,  in  search  of  this  rumored  breeding  ground. 
Indeed,  if  the  record  can  be  credited,  the  whole  bent  of  this  Russian  attention  and  search  for  the  fur-seal  islands 
was  devoted  to  that  region  south  of  the  Aleutian  islands,  between  Japan  and  Oregon. 

PRIBYLOV'S  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  ISLANDS  WHICH  BEAR  HIS  NAME. — Hence  i:  was  not  until  1780,  after  more 
than  eighteen  years  of  unremitting  search  by  hardy  navigators,  that  the  Pribylov  islands  were  discovered.  It  seems 
that  a  rugged  Muscovitic  "stoormau",  or  ship's  "mate",  Gehrman  Pribylov  by  name,  serving  under  the  direction 
and  in  the  pay  of  one  of  the  many  companies  engaged  in  the  fur  business  at  that  time,  was  much  moved  and 
exercised  in  his  mind  by  the  revelations  of  an  old  Aleutian  shaman  at  Oonalaslika,  who  pretended  to  recite  a  legend 
of  the  natives,  wherein  he  declared  that  certain  islands  in  the  Bering  sea  had  long  been  known  to  Aleuts.t 

Pribylov  commanded  a  small  sloop,  the  "St.  George",  which  he  employed  for  three  successive  years  in 
constant,  though  fruitless,  explorations  to  the  northward  of  Oonalaslika  and  Oouimak,  ranging  over  the  whole  of 

*  Rubbius  reef.  tTbis  legend  is  translated  by  the  author,  and  published  in  the  Appendix. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  9 

Bering  sea  from  the  straits  above.  His  ill-snccess  does  not  now  seem  strange,  when  we  understand  the  currents,  the 
winds,  and  logs  of  those  waters.  Why,  ouly  recently  the  writer  himself  has  been  on  one  of  the  best-manned  vessels 
that  ever  sailed  from  any  port,  provided  with  good  charts  and  equipped  with  all  the  marine  machinery  known  to 
navigation,  and  that  vessel  has  hovered  for  nine  successive  days  off  the  north  point  and  around  St.  Paul  island, 
sometimes  almost  ou  the  reef,  and  never  more  than  ten  miles  away,  without  actually  knowing  where  the  island 
was !  So  Pribylov  did  well,  considering,  since  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  summer's  tedious  search,  in  June,  1786, 
his  old  sloop  ran  up  against  the  walls  of  Tolstoi  Mees,  at  St.  George,  and  when,  though  the  fog  was  so  thick  that 
he  could  see  scarce  the  length  of  his  vessel,  his  ears  were  regaled  by  the  sweet  music  of  seal-rookeries  wafted  out 
to  him  on  the  heavy  air.  He  knew  then  that  he  had  found  the  object  of  his  search,  and  he  at  once  took  possession 
of  the  island  in  the  Russian  name  and  that  of  his  craft. 

His  secret  could  not  long  be  kept.  He  had  left  some  of  his  men  behind  him  to  hold  the  island,  and  when  he 
returned  to  Oonalashka  they  were  gone.  And,  when  the  next'  season  had  fairly  opened,  a  dozen  vessels  were 
watching  him  and  trimming  in  his  wake.  Of  course  they  all  found  the  island,  and  in  that  year,  July,  1787,  the 
sailors  of  Pribylov,  on  St.  George,  while  climbing  the  bluffs  and  straining  their  eyes  for  a  relief  ship,  descried  the 
low  coast  and  scattered  cones  of  St.  Paul,  thirty  -six  miles  to  the  northwest  of  them.  When  they  landed  at  St. 
George,  not  a  sign  nor  a  vestige  of  human  habitation  was  found  thereon;  but  during  the  succeeding  year,  when  they 
crossed  over  to  St.  Paul,  and  took  possession  of  it,  in  turn,  they  were  surprised  at  finding  on  the  south  coast  of  that 
island,  at  a  point  now  known  as  English  bay,  the  remains  of  a  recent  fire.  There  were  charred  embers  of  driftwood, 
and  places  where  grass  had  been  scorched;  there  was  a  pipe,  and  a  brass  knife  handle,  which  I  regret  to  say  have 
long  passed  beyond  the  cognizance  of  any  ethnologist.  This  much  appears  iu  the  Eussian  records. 

4.  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. 

The  Pribylov  islands  lie  in  the  heart  of  Bering  sea,  and  are  among  the  most  insignificant  landmarks  known 
in  that  ocean.  They  are  situated  192  miles  north  of  Ooualashka,  200  miles  south  of  St.  Matthews,  and  about  the 
same  distance  westward  of  cape  Xewenham  ou  the  mainland. 

CLIMATE. — The  islands  of  St.  George  and  St.  Paul  are  from  twenty  seven  to  thirty  miles  apart,  St.  George 
lying  southeastward  of  St.  Paul.  They  are  far  enough  south  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  permanent  ice-floes,  upon 
which  polar  bears  could  have  made  their  way  to  the  islands,  though  a  few  of  these  animals  were,  doubtless,  always 
present.  They  laid  also  distant  enough  from  the  inhabited  Aleutian  districts  and  the  coast  of  the  mainland 
to  have  remained  unknown  to  savage  men.  Hence  they  afforded  the  fur  seal  the  happiest  shelter  and  isolation, 
for  their  position  seems  to  be  such  as  to  surround  and  envelop  them  with  fog-banks  that  fairly  shut  out  the  sun 
nine  days  in  every  ten,  during  the  summer  and  breeding-season. 

In  this  location,  ocean-currents  from  the  great  Pacific,  warmer  than  the  normal  temperature  of  that  latitude, 
trending  up  from  southward,  ebb  and  flow  around  the  islands  as  they  puss,  giving  rise,  during  the  summer  and 
early  autumn,  to  constant,  dense,  humid  fog  and  drizzling  mists,  which  hang  in  heavy  banks  over  the  islands  and  the 
sea  line,  seldom  dissolving  away  to  indicate  a  pleasant  day.  By  the  middle  or  end  of  October,  strong,  cold  winds, 
refrigerated  on  the  Siberian  steppes,  sweep  down  across  the  islands,  carrying  off  the  moisture  and  clearing  up  the 
air.  By  the  end  of  January,  or  early  in  February,  they  usually  bring,  by  their  steady  pressure,  from  the  north  and 
northwest,  great  fields  of  broken  ice,  sludgy  floes,  with  nothing  iu  them  approximating  or  approaching  glacial  ice. 
They  are  not  very  heavy  or  thick,  but  still  as  the  wind  blows  they  compactly  cover  the  whole  surface  of  the  sea, 
completely  shutting  in  the  land,  and  for  months  at  a  time  hushing  the  wonted  roar  of  the  suif.  In  the  exceptionally 
cold  seasons  that  succeed  each  other  up  there  every  four  or  five  years,  for  periods  of  three  and  even  four  mouths — 
from  December  to  May,  and  sometimes  into  June — the  islands  will  be  completely  environed  and  ice-bound.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  about  the  same  rotation,  occur  the  exceptionally  mild  winters.  Xot  even  the  sight  of  an  ice-floe 
is  recorded  during  the  whole  winter,  and  there  is  very  little  skating  on  the  shallow  lakes  and  lagoons  peculiar  to 
St.  Paul  and  St  George.  This,  however,  is  not  often  the  case. 

The  breaking-up  of  winter-weather  and  the  precipitation  of  summer  (for  there  is  no  real  spring  or  autumn  in 
these  latitudes!,  usually  commences  about  the  first  week  in  April.  The  ice  begins  to  leave  or  dissolve  at  that  time, 
or  a  little  later,  so  that  by  the  1st  or  uth  of  May,  the  beaches  and  rocky  sea  margin  beneath  the  mural  precipices 
are  generally  clear  and  free  from  ice  and  snow,  although  the  latter  occasionally  lies,  until  the  end  of  July  or  the 
middle  of  August,  in  gullies  and  on  leeward  hill-slopes,  where  it  has  drifted  during  the  winter.  Fog,  thick 
and  heavy,  rolls  up  from  the  sea,  and  closes  over  the  laud  about  the  end  of  May ;  this,  the  habitual  sign  of  summer, 
holds  on  steadily  to  the  middle  or  end  of  October  again. 

The  periods  of  change  in  climate  are  exceedingly  irregular  during  the  autumn  and  spring,  so  called,  but  in 
summer  the  cool,  moist,  shady,  gray  fog  is  constantly  present.  To  this  certainty  of  favored  climate,  coupled  with 
the  perfect  isolation  and  the  exceeding  fitness  of  the  ground,  is  due  without  doubt,  that  preference  manifested  by 
the  warm-blooded  animals  which  come  here  every  year,  in  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands,  to  breed,  to  the 
practical  exclusion  of  all  other  ground. 


10  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

A  large  amount  of  information  in  regard  to  the  climate  of  these  islands  has  been  collected  and  recorded  by  the 
signal  service,  United  States  army,  and  similar  observations  are  still  continued  by  the  agents  of  the  Alaska 
Commercial  Company.  I  simply  remark  here,  that  the  winter  which  I  passed  upon  St.  Paul  island  (1872-'73)  was 
one  of  great  severity,  and,  according  to  the  natives,  such  as  is  very  seldom  experienced.  Cold  as  it  was,  however, 
the  lowest  marking  of  the  thermometer  was  only  12°  Fahr.  below  zero,  and  that  lasted  but  a  few  hours  during  a  single 
day  in  February,  while  the  mean  of  that  month  was  18°  above.  I  found  that  March  was  the  coldest  mouth.  Then 
the  mean  was  12°  above,  and  I  have  since  learned  that  March  continues  to  be  the  meanest  mouth  of  the  year.  The 
lowest  average  of  a  usual  winter  ranges  from  22°  to  26°  above  zero;  but  these  quiet  figures  are  simply  inadequate 
to  impress  the  reader  with  the  exceeding  discomfort  of  the  winter  in  that  locality.  It  is  the  wind  that  tortures  and 
cripples  out-door  exercise  there,  as  it  does  on  all  the  sea-coast  and  islands  of  Alaska.  It  is  blowing,  blowing,  from 
every  point  of  the  compass  at  all  times;  it  is  an  everlasting  succession  of  furious  gales,  laden  with  snow  and  sleety 
spiculffi,  whirling  in  great  drifts  to-day,  while  to-morrow  the  "boorga"  will  blow  from  a  quarter  directly  opposite, 
and  reverse  its  rift-building  of  the  day  preceding. 

Without  being  cold  enough  to  suffer,  one  is  literally  confined  and  chained  to  his  room  from  December  uutil 
April  by  this  a3oliau  tension.  I  remember  very-well  that,  during  the  winter  of  1872-'73, 1  was  watching,  with  all  the 
impatience  which  a  man  in  full  health  and  tired  of  confinement  can  possess,  every  opportunity  to  seize  upon  quiet 
intervals  between  the  storms,  in  which  I  could  make  short  trips  along  the  tracks  over  which  I  was  habituated 
to  walk  during  the  summer;  yet,  in  all  lhat  hyemal  season  I  got  out  but  three  times;  and  then  only  by  the  exertion 
of  great  physical  energy.  Ou  a  day  in  March,  for  example,  the  velocity  of  the  wind  at  St.  Paul,  recorded  by  one 
of  the  signal  service  anemometers,  was  at  the  rate  of  88  miles  per  hour,  with  as  low  a  temperature  as  —  4°! 
This  particular  wind-storm,  with  snow,  blew  at  such  a  velocity  for  six  days  without  an  hour's  cessation,  while  the 
natives  passed  from  house  to  house  crawling  on  all-fours :  no  man  could  stand  up  against  it,  and  no  man  wanted 
to.  At  a  much  higher  temperature— say  at  15°  or  16°  above  zero— with  the  wind  blowing  only  20  or  25  miles  an 
hour,  it  is  necessary,  when  journeying,  to  be  most  thoroughly  wrapped  up,  to  guard  against  freezing. 

As  I  have  said,  there  are  here  virtually  but  two  seasons — winter  and  summer.  To  the  former  belongs  November 
and  the  following  months  up  to  the  end  of  April,  with  a  mean  temperature  of  20°  to  28° ;  while  the  transition  of 
summer  is  but  a  very  slight  elevation  of  that  temperature,  not  more  than  15^  or  20°.  Of  the  summer  months,  July, 
perhaps,  is  the  warmest,  with  an  average  temperature  between  46°  and  50°  in  ordinary  seasons.  When  the  sun 
breaks  out  through  the  fog,  and  bathes  the  dripping,  water  soaked  hills  and  flats  of  the  island  in  its  hot  flood  of 
light,  1  have  known  the  thermometer  to  rise  to  60°  and  64°  in  the  shade,  while  the  natives  crawled  out  of  the 
fervent  and  unwonted  heat,  anathematizing  its  brilliancy  and  potency.  Sunshine  does  them  no  good  ;  for,  like  the 
seals,  they  seem  under  its  influence  to  swell  up  at  the  neck.  A  little  of  it  suffices  handsomely  for  both  Aleuts  and 
pinnipedia,  to  whom  the  ordinary  atmosphere  is  much  more  agreeable. 

It  is  astonishing  how  rapidly  snow  melts  here.  This  is  due,  probably,  to  the  saline  character  of  the  air,  for 
when  the  temperature  is  only  a  single  degree  above  freezing,  and  after  several  successive  days  in  April  or  May,  at 
34°  and  3G°,  grass  begins  to  grow,  even  if  it  be  below  melting  drifts,  and  the  frost  has  penetrated  the  ground  many 
feet  beneath.  I  have  said  that  this  humidity  and  fog,  so  strongly  and  peculiarly  characteristic  of  the  Pribylov  group, 
was  due  to  the  warmer  ocean-currents  setting  up  from  the  coast  of  Japan,  and  trending  to  the  Arctic  through  Bering's 
straits,  and  deflected  to  the  southward  into  the  North  Pacific,  laving,  as  it  flows,  the  numerous  passes  and  channels  of 
the  great  Aleutian  chain;  but  I  do  not  think,  nor  do  I  wish  to  be  understood  as  saying,  that  my  observation  in  this 
respect  warrants  any  conclusion  as  to  so  large  a  gulf-stream  flowing  to  the  north,  such  as  mariners  and  hydrographers 
recognize  upon  the  Atlantic  coast.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  anything  of  the  kind  equal  to  it  in  Bering  sea. 
I  think,  however,  that  there  is  a  steady  set-up  to  northward  from  southward  around  the  seal-islands,  which 
is  continued  through  Bering's  straits,  and  drifts  steadily  off  up  to  the  northeast,  until  it  is  lost  beyond  Point  Barrow. 
That  this  pelagic  circulation  exists,  is  clearly  proven  by  the  logs  of  the  whalers,  who,  from  1845  to  1850,  literally 
filled  the  air  over  those  waters  with  the  smoke  of  their  "  try-fires  ",  and  plowed  every  square  rod  of  that  superficial 
marine  area  with  their  adventurous  keels.  While  no  two,  perhaps,  of  those  old  whaling  captains  living  to-day, 
will  agree  as  to  the  exact  course  of  tides,*  for  Alaskan  tides  do  not  seem  to  obey  any  law,  they  all 
affirm  the  existence  of  a  steady  current,  passing  up  from  the  south  to  the  northeast,  through  Bering's  straits. 
The  flow  is  not  rapid,  and  is  doubtless  checked  at  times,  for  short  intervals,  by  other  causes,  which  need  not  be 
discussed  here.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  there  is  warm  water  enough,  abnormal  to  the  latitude,  for  the  evolution 
of  the  characteristic  fog-banks,  which  almost  discomfited  Pribylov,  at  the  time  of  his  discovery  of  the  islands, 
nearly  one  hundred  years  ago,  and  which  have  remained  ever  since. 

Without  this  fog  the  fur-seal  would  never  have  rested  there  as  he  has  done;  but  when  he  came  on  his  voyage  of 
discovery,  ages  ago,  up  from  the  rocky  coasts  of  Patagonia,  mayhap,  had  he  not  found  this  cool,  moist  temperature 
of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  he  would  have  kept  on,  completed  the  circuit,  and  returned  to  those  congenial 
antipodes  of  his  birih. 


*  The  rise  and  fall  of  tide  at  the  seal-islands  I  carefully  watched  one  whole  season  at  St.  Paul.  The  irregularity,  however,  of  ebb  and 
How,  is  t.he  most,  prominent  feature  of  the  matter.  The  highest  rise  in  the  spring  tides  was  a  trifle  over  four  feet,  while  that  of  the  neap 
tides  not  much  over  two.  Owing  to  the  nature  of  the  ease,  it  is  impossible  to  prepare  a  tidal  calendar  for  Alaska,  above  the  Aleutian 
island*,  which  will  even  faintly  foreshadow  a  correct  registration  in  advance. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  11 

CLOUDS. — Speaking  of  the  stormy  weather  brings  to  my  mind  the  beautiful,  varied,  and  impressive  nephelogical 
displ;  y  in  the  heavens  overhead  here  during  October  and  November.  I  may  say,  without  exaggeration,  that  the 
cloud  effects  which  I  have  witnessed  from  the  bluff's  of  this  little  island,  in  those  seasons  of  1  he  year,  surpass  anything 
that  I  had  ever  seen  before.  Perhaps  the  mighty  masses  of  cumuli,  deriving  their  origin  from  warm  exhalations  out 
of  the  sea.  and  swelled  and  whirled  with  such  rapidity,  in  spite  of  their  appearance  of  solidity,  across  the  horizon, 
owe  their  striking  brilliancy  of  color  and  prismatic  tones  to  that  low  declination  of  the  sun  due  to  the  latitude. 
Whatever  the  cause  may  be,  and  this  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  it,  certainly  no  other  spot  on  earth  can  boast  of  a 
more  striking  and  brilliant  cloud  display.  In  the  season  of  1865-'GG,  when  I  was  encamped  on  this  same  parallel  of 
latitude  in  the  mountains  eastward  of  Sitka  and  the  interior,  I  was  particularly  attracted  by  the  exceeding 
brilliancy,  persistency,  and  activity  of  the  aurora;  but  here  on  St.  Paul,  though  I  eagerly  looked  for  its  dancing 
light,  it  seldom  appeared;  and  when  it  did,  it  was  a  sad  disappointment,  the  exhibition  always  being  insignificant 
when  compared  in  my  mind  with  that  flashing  of  my  previous  experience.  A  quaint  old  writer,*  a  hundred 
years  ago,  when  describing  Norway  and  its  people,  called  attention  to  what  he  considered  a  very  plausible  theory  as 
to  the  cause  of  the  aurora;  he  cited  an  ancieirt  sage,  who  believed  that  the  change  of  the  winds  threw  the  saline 
particles  of  the  sea  high  into  the  air,  and  then,  by  aerial  friction,  "fermentation"  took  place,  and  the  light  was 
evolved!  I  am  sure  that  the  saline  particles  of  Bering  sea  were  whirled  into  the  air  during  the  whole  of  that  winter 
of  my  residence  there,  but  no  "  fermentation  "  occurred,  evidently,  for  rarely  indeed  did  the  aurora  greet  my  eyes.  In 
the  summer  season  there  is  considerable  lightning;  you  will  see  it  streak  its  zigzag  path  mornings,  evenings,  and 
even  noondays,  but  from  the  dark  clouds  and  their  swelling  masses  upon  which  it  is  portrayed  no  sound  returns; 
afulgttr  brutum,  in  fact.  I  remember  hearing  but  one  clap  of  thunder  while  in  that  country.  If  I  recollect  aright, 
and  my  Kussian  served  me  well,  one  of  the  old  natives  told  me  that  it  was  no  mystery,  this  light  of  the  aurora, 
for,  said  he,  "  we  all  believe  that  there  are  fire-mountains  away  up  toward  the  north,  and  what  we  see  comes  from 
their  burning  throats,  mirrored  back  on  the  heavens". 

GEOLOGICAL  STRUCTURE. — The  formation  of  these  islands,  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  was  recent,  geologically 
speaking,  and  directly  due  to  volcanic  agency,  which  lifted  them  abruptly,  though  gradually,  from  the  sea-bed. 
Little  spouting  craters  then  actively  poured  out  cinders  and  other  volcanic  breccia  upon  the  table-bed  of  basalt, 
depositing  below  as  well  as  above  the  water's  level  as  they  rose ;  and  subsequently  finishing  their  work  of 
construction  through  the  agency  of  these  spout-holes  or  craters,  from  which  water-puddled  ashes  aud  tufa  were 
thrown.  Soon  after  the  elevation  and  deposit  of  the  igneous  matter,  all  active  volcanic  action  must  have  ceased, 
though  a  few  half-smothered  outbursts  seem  to  have  occurred  very  recently  indeed;  for  on  Bobrovia  or  Otter  island, 
six  miles  southward  of  St.  Paul,  is  the  fresh,  clearly  blown-out  throat,  with  the  fire-scorched  and  smoked,  smooth, 
sharp-cut,  funnel-like  walls  of  a  crater.  This  is  the  only  place  on  the  seal  islands  where  there  are  any  evidences  of 
recent  discharges  from  the  crater  of  a  volcano. 

Since  the  period  of  the  upheaval  of  the  group  under  discussion,  the  sea  has  done  much  to  modify  and  even 
enlarge  the  most  important  one,  St.  Paul,  while  the  others,  St.  George  and  Otter,  being  lifted  abruptly  above  the 
power  of  water  and  ice  to  carry  and  deposit  sand,  soil,  and  bowlders,  are  but  little  changed  from  the  condition  of 
their  first  appearance. 

VEGETATION. — The  Russians  tell  a  rather  strange  story  in  connection  with  Pribylov's  landing.  They  say  that 
both  the  islands  were  at  first  without  vegetation  t,  save  St.  Paul,  where  there  was  a  small  "talneek",  or  willow, 
creeping  along  on  the  ground ;  and  that  on  St.  George  nothing  grew,  not  even  grass,  except  on  the  place  where  the 
carcasses  of  dead  animals  rotted.  Then,  in  the  course  of  time,  both  islands  became  covered  with  grass,  a  great  part 
of  it  being  of  the  sedge  kind,  Elymm.  This  record  of  Veuiaminov,  however,  is  scarcely  credible;  there  are  few, 
surely,  who  will  not  question  the  opinion  that  the  steals  antedated  the  vegetation,  for,  according  to  his  own 
statements,  those  creatures  were  there  then  in  the  same  immense  numbers  that  we  find  them  to-day.  The 
vegetation  on  these  islands,  such  as  it  is,  is  fresh  and  luxuriant  during  the  growing  season  of  June  and  July  and 
early  August,  but  the  beauty  and  economic  value  of  trees  and  shrubbery,  of  cereals  and  vegetables,  is  denied  to 
them  by  climatic  conditions.  Still  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  believe  that,  should  some  of  those  hardy  shrubs  and 
spruce  trees  indigenous  at  Sitka  or  Kadiak.  be  trauspl  inted  properly  to  any  of  the  southern  hill-slopes  of  St.  Paul 
most  favored  by  soil,  drainage,  and  bluff's  for  shelter  from  saline  gales,  they  might  grow,  though  I  know  that, 
owing  to  the  lack  of  sunlight,  they  would  never  mature  their  seed.  There  is,  however,  during  the  summer,  a 
beautiful  spread  of  grasses,  of  flowering  annuals,  biennials,  and  perennials,  of  gaily-colored  lichens  and  crinkled 
mossesj,  which  have  always  afforded  me  great  delight  whenever  1  have  pressed  my  way  over  the  moors  and  up  the 
hillsides  of  the  rookeries. 

There  are  ten  or  twelve  species  of  grasses  of  every  variety,  from  close,  curly,  compact  mats  to  tall  stalks — 
tussocks  of  the  wild  wheat,  Ehjmus  arenaria,  standing  in  favorable  seasons  waist  high — the  "wheat  of  the  north" — 
together  with  over  one  hundred  varieties  of  annuals,  perennials,  spagnmn,  cryptogamic  plants,  etc..  all  flourishing 
in  their  respective  positions,  and  covering  nearly  every  point  of  rock,  tufa,  cement,  and  sand  that  a  plant  can  grow 

'Pontoppulau.  tVeniaininov  :  Zapieskie  Oonalaslikcnskaliii  Otdayla.  etc..  1-4'J. 

t  The  mosses  at  Kamminista,  St.  Paul,  are  the  finest  examples  of  their  kiud  on  the  iskiud* :  they  arc  very  perfect  aud  beautiful  in 
many  species. 


12  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

upon,  with  a  living  coat  of  the  greenest  of  all  greens — for  there  is  not  sunlight  enough  there  to  ripen  any 
perceptible  tinge  of  ocher-yellow  into  il — so  green  that  it  gives  a  deep  blue  tint  to  gray  noonday  shadows, 
contrasting  pleasantly  with  the  varying  russets,  reds,  lemon-yellows,  and  grays  of  the  lichen-covered  rocks,  and 
the  brownish  purple  of  the  wild  wheat  on  the  sand  dune  tracts  in  autumn,  together,  also,  with  innumerable  blue, 
yellow,  pink,  and  white  phreiiogamous  blossoms,  everywhere  interspersed  over  the  grassy  uplands  and  sandy  flats. 
Occasionally,  on  looking  into  the  thickest  masses  of  verdure,  our  common  wild  violet  will  be  found,  while  the 
phloxes  are  especially  bright  and  brilliant  here.  The  flowers  of  one  species  of  gentian,  Gcntiana  verna,  are  very 
marked  in  their  beauty;  also  those  of  a  nasturtium,  and  a  creeping  pea- vine  on  the  sand-dunes.  The  blossom  of 
one  species  of  the  pulse  family  is  the  only  one  here  that  emits  a  positive,  rich  perfume;  all  the  others  are  more 
suggestive  of  that  quality  than  expressive.  The  most  striking  plant  in  all  the  long  list  is  the  Archangelica 
tfficinalis,  with  its  tall  seed-stalks  and  broad  leaves,  which  grows  first  in  spring  and  keeps  green  latest  in  the  fall. 
The  luxuriant  rhubarb-like  stems  of  this  uuibellifer,  after  they  have  made  their  rapid  growth  in  June,  are  eagerly 
sought  for  by'the  natives,  who  pull  them  and  crunch  them  between  their  teeth  with  all  the  relish  that  we  experience 
in  eating  celery.  The  exhibition  of  ferns  at  Kammiuista,  St.  Paul,  during  the  summer  of  1872,  surpassed  anything 
that  I  ever  saw :  I  recall  with  vivid  detail  the  exceedingly  tine  display  made  by  these  crenulated  and  waving  fronds, 
as  they  reared  themselves  above  the  rough  interstices  of  the  rocky  ridges.  From  the  fern  roots,  and  those  of  the 
gentian,  the  natives  here  draw  their  entire  stock  of  vegetable  medicines.  This  floral  display  on  St.  Paul  is  very 
much  more  extensive  and  conspicuous  than  that  on  St.  George,  owing  to  the  absence  of  any  noteworthy  extent  of 
warm  sand-dune  country  on  the  latter  island. 

When  an  unusually  warm  summer  passes  over  the  Pribylov  group,  followed  by  an  open  fall  and  a  mild  winter, 
the  Elymus  ripens  its  seed,  and  stands  like  fields  of  uncut  grain,  in  many  places  along  the  north  shore  of  St.  Paul 
and  around  the  village,  the  snow  not  falling  enough  to  entirely  obliterate  it;  but  it  is  seldom  allowed  to  flourish  to 
that  extent.  By  the  end  of  August  and  the  first  week  of  September  of  normal  seasons,  the  small  edible  berries 
of  Empetrum  nigrum  and  Rubus  cliamccmorus  are  ripe.  They  are  found  in  considerable  quantities,  especially  at 
"Zapaduie",  on  both  islands,  and,  as  everywhere  else  throughout  the  circumpolar  latitudes,  the  former  is  small, 
watery,  and  dark,  about  the  size  of  the  English  or  black  currant;  the  other  resembles  an  unripe  and  partially 
decayed  raspberry.  They  are,  however,  keenly  relished  by  the  natives,  and  even  by  the  American  residents,  being 
the  only  fruit  growing  upon  the  islands. 

AGRICULTURE  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES. — A  great  many  attempts  have  been  made,  both  here  and  at  St. 
George,  to  raise  a  few  of  the  hardy  vegetables.  With  the  exception  of  growing  lettuce,  turnips,  and  radishes  on 
the  island  of  St.  Paul,  nothing  has  been  or  can  be  done.  On  St.  George,  on  the  south  shore,  and  at  the  foot  of  a 
mural  blufl',  is  a  little  patch  of  ground  of  less  than  one-sixteenth  of  an  acre,  that  appears  to  be  so  drained  and  so 
warmed  by  the  rarely-reflected  sunlight  from  this  cliff,  every  ray  of  which  seems  to  be  gathered  and  radiated  from 
the  rocks,  as  to  allow  the  production  of  fair  turnips;  and  at  one  season  there  were  actually  raised  potatoes  as  large 
as  walnuts.  Gardening,  however,  on  either  island  involves  so  much  labor  and  so  much  care,  with  so  poor  a  return, 
that  it  has  been  discontinued.  It  is  a  great  deal  better,  and  a  great  deal  easier,  to  have  the  "truck"  come  up  once 
a  year  from  San  Francisco  on  the  steamer. 

INSECTS. — There  is  one  comfort  which  nature  has  vouchsafed  to  civilized  man  on  these  islands.  There  are  very- 
few  indigenous  insects.  A  large  flesh-fly,  Bombylim  major,  appears  during  the  summer  and  settles  in  a  striking 
manner  upon  the  backs  of  the  loafing  natives,  or  strings  itself  in  rows  of  millions  upon  the  long  grass-blades  which 
nourish  over  the  killing  grounds,  especially  on  the  leaf-stalks  of  the  Elymus,  causing  this  vegetation,  on  the  whole 
.slaughtering-field  and  vicinity,  to  fairly  droop  to  earth  as  if  beaten  down  by  a  tornado  of  wind  and  rain.  It  makes 
the  landscape  look  as  though  it  had  molded  in  the  night,  and  the  fungoid  spores  were  blue  and  gray.  Our  common 
house-fly  is  not  present;  I  never  saw  one  while  I  was  up  there.  The  flesh-flies  which  I  have  just  mentioned  never 
came  into  the  dwellings  unless  by  accident:  the  natives  say  they  do  not  annoy  them,  and  I  did  not  notice  any 
disturbance  among  the  few  animals  which  the  resident  company  had  imported  for  beef  and  for  service. 

Thin,  again,  this  is  perhaps  the  only  place  in  all  Alaska  where  man,  primitive  and  civilized,  is  not  cursed  by 
mosquitoes.  There  are  none  here.  A  gnat,  that  is  disagreeably  suggestive  of  the  real  enemy  just  referred  to,  flits 
about  in  large  swarms,  but  it  is  inoffensive,  and  seeks  shelter  in  the  grass.  Several  species  of  beetles  are  also 
numerous  here.  One  of  them,  the  famous  green  and  gold  "carabus",  is  exceedingly  common,  crawling  everywhere, 
and  is  just  as  bright  in  the  rich  bronzing  of  its  wing-shields  as  are  its  famous  prototypes  of  Brazil.  One  or  two 
upecies  of  Ichneumon,  a  Cymindift,  several  representatives  of  the  Aph'uUphaga,  one  or  two  of  Dytiscidcc,  three  or 
four  Cicindelidfc — these  are  nearly  all  that  I  found.  A  single  dragon-fly,  Perla  bicauflata,  flitted  over  the  lakes  and 
ponds  of  St.  Paul.  The,  to  our  eyes,  familiar  form  of  the  bumble-bee,  Bombus  borealis,  passing  from  flower  to 
flower,  was  rarely  seen;  but  a  few  are  here  resident.  The  Hydrocoriace  occur  in  great  abundance,  skipping  over  the 
Avater  in  the  lakes  and  pools  everywhere,  and  a  very  few  species  of  butterflies,  principally  the  yellow  Nymphalida;, 
are  represented  by  numerous  individuals. 

LAND  MAMMALS. — Aside  from  the  seal-life  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  there  is  no  indigenous  mammalian  creature, 
Avith  the  exception  of  the  blue  and  white  foxes,  Vulpes  lagopus, "and  the  lemming,  Mi/odes  obcnsis.  The  latter  is 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  13 

restricted,  for  some  reason  or  other,  to  the  island  of  St.  George,  where  it  is,  or  at  least  was,  in  1874,  very  abundant. 
Its  burrows  and  paths,  under  and  among  the  grassy  hummocks  and  mossy  flats,  checkered  every  square  rod  of  land 
there  covered  with  this  vegetation.  Although  the  island  of  St.  Paul  is  but  29  or  30  miles  to  the  northwest,  not  a  single 
one  of  these  active,  curious  little  animals  is  found  on  it,  nor  could  I  learn  from  the  natives  that  it  had  ever  beeu 
seen  there.  The  foxes  are  also  restricted  to  these  islands;  that  is,  their  kind,  which  are  not  found  elsewhere,  except 
the  stray  examples  on  St.  Matthew  seen  by  myself,  and  those  which  are  carefully  domesticated  and  preserved 
at  Attoo,  the.  extreme  westernmost  land  of  the  Aleutian  chain.  These  animals  find  comfortable  holes  for  their 
accommodation  and  retreat  on  the  seal-islands,  among  the  countless  chinks  and  crevices  of  the  basaltic  formation. 
They  feed  and  grow  fat  upon  sick  and  weakly  seals,  also  devouring  many  of  the  pups,  and  they  vary  this  diet  by 
water-fowl  and  eggs*  during  the  summer,  returning  for  their  subsistence  during  the  long  winter  to  the  bodies  of 
seals  upon  the  breeding-grounds  and  the  skinned  carcasses  left  upon  the  killing-fields.  Were  they  not  regularly 
hunted  from  December  until  April,  when  their  fur  is  in  its  prime  beauty  and  condition,  they  would  swarm  like  the 
lemming  on  St.  George,  and  perhaps  would  soon  be  obliged  to  eat  one  another.  The  natives,  however,  thin  them 
out  by  incessant  trapping  and  shooting  during  the  period  when  the  seals  are  away  from  the  islands. 

The  Pribylov  group  is  as  yet  free  from  rats ;  at  least,  none  have  got  off  from  the  ships.  There  is  no  harbor 
at  either  of  these  islands,  and  the  ships  lie  out  in  the  roadstead,  so  far  from  land  that  these  pests  do  not  venture 
to  swim  to  the  shore.  Mice  were  long  ago  brought  to  shore  in  ships'  cargoes,  and  they  are  a  great  nuisance  to 
the  white  people  as  well  as  the  natives  throughout  the  islands.  Hence  cats  also  are  abundant.  Xowhere  perhaps 
in  the  wide  world  are  such  cats  to  be  seen  as  these.  The  tabby  of  our  acquaintance,  when  she  goes  up  there  and 
lives  upon  the  seal  meat  spread  everywhere  under  her  nose,  is  metamorphosed,  by  time  of  the  second  generation, 
into  a  stubby  feline  ball;  in  other  words,  she  becomes  thickened,  short,  and  loses  part  of  the  normal  length  of  her 
tail ;  also  her  voice  is  prolonged  and  resonant  far  beyond  the  misery  which  she  inflicts  upon  our  ears  here.  These 
cuts  actually  ssvarin  about  the  natives'  houses,  never  in  them  much,  for  only  a  tithe  of  their  whole  number  can 
be  made  pets  of;  but  they  do  make  night  hideous  beyond  all  description.  They  repair  for  shelter,  often,  to  the 
chinks  of  precipices,  and  bluffs,  but,  although  not  exactly  wild,  yet  they  cannot  be  approached  or  cajoled.  The 
natives,  wheu  their  sluggish  wits  are  periodically  thoroughly  aroused  and  disturbed  by  the  volume  of  cat-calls 
in  the  village,  sally  out  and  by  a  vigorous  effort  abate  the  nuisance  for  the  time  being.  The  most  extravagant 
caterwauling  alone  will  or  can  arouse  this  Aleutian  ire. 

STOCK  AND  rouLTRY-KAisiNG. — On  account  of  the  severe  climatic  conditions  it  is  of  course  impracticable 
to  keep  stock  here  with  any  profit  or  pleasure.  The  experiment  has  been  tried  faithfully.  It  is  found  best  to  bring 
beef-cattle  up  in  the  spring  on  the  steamer,  turn  them  out  to  pasture  until  the  close  of  the  season,  in  October  and 
November,  and  then,  if  the  snow  comes,  to  kill  them  and  keep  them  refrigerated  the  rest  of  the  year.  Stock 
cannot  be  profitably  raised  here,  the  proportion  of  severe  weather  annually  is  too  great — from  three  to  perhaps 
six  months  of  every  year  they  require  feeding  and  watering,  with  good  shelter.  To  furnish  an  animal  with  hay 
aud  grain  up  thertj  is  a  costly  matter,  and  the  dampness  of  the  growing  summer  season  on  both  islands  renders 
hay-making  impracticable.  Perhaps  a  few  head  of  hardy  Siberian  cattle  might  pick  up  a  living  on  the  north  shore 
of  St.  Paul,  among  the  grasses  and  sand-dunes  there,  with  nothing  more  than  shelter  and  water  given  them,  but 
they  would  need  both  of  those  attentions.  Then  the  care  of  them  would  hardly  return  expenses,  as  the  entire 
grazing  ground  could  not  support  any  number  of  animals.  It  is  less  than  two  square  miles  in  extent,  and  half 
of  this  area  is  unproductive.  Then,  too,  a  struggle  for  existence  would  reduce  the  flesh  and  vitality  of  these 
cattle  to  so  low  an  ebb,  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  could  be  put  through  another  winter  alive,  especially  if 
severe.  I  was  then,  and  am  now,  strongly  inclined  to  think,  that  if  a  few  of  those  Siberian  reindeer  could  be 
brought  over  to  St.  Paul  and  to  St.  George,  they  would  make  a  very  successful  struggle  for  existence,  and  be  a 
source  of  a  good  supply,  summer  and  winter,  of  fresh  meat  for  the  agents  of  the  government  and  the  company  who 
may  be  living  upon  the  islands.  I  do  not  think  that  they  would  be  inclined  to  molest  or  visit  the  seal-grounds ;  at 
least,  I  noticed  that  the  cattle  and  mules  of  the  company  running  loose  on  St.  Paul,  were  careful  never  to  poke 
around  on  the  outskirts  of  a  rookery,  and  deer  would  be  more  timid  and  less  obtrusive  than  our  domesticated 
animals.  But  I  did  notice  on  St.  George  that  a  little  squad  of  sheep,  brought  up  and  turned  out  there  for  a 
summer's  feeding,  seemed  to  be  so  attracted  by  the  quiet  calls  of  the  pups  on  the  rookeries,  that  they  were  drawn 
to  and  remained  by  the  seals  without  disturbing  them  at  all,  to  their  own  physical  detriment,  for  they  lost  better 

*  The  temerity  of  the  fox  is  wonderful  to  contemplate,  as  it  goes  on  a  full  run  or  stealthy  tread  up  and  down  and  along  the  faces  of 
almost  inaccessible  bluffs,  in  search  of  old  and  young  birds  and  their  nests  and  eggs,  for  which  the  ••  peestt-hee"  have  a  keen  relish.  The 
fox  always  brings  the  egg  up  in  Hf  mouth,  and,  carrying  it  back  a  few  feet  from  the  brink  of  the  precipice,  leisurely  and  with  gusto  breaks 
the  larger  end  and  sucks  the  contents  from  the  shell.  One  of  the  curious  sights  of  my  notice  in  this  connection,  was  the  sly,  artful,  and 
insidious  advances  of  Reynard  ar  Tolstoi  Mce>.  St.  George,  where,  conspicuous  and  elegant  in  its  Huffy  white  dre.>s.  it  cunningly  stretched 
on  its  back  as  though  dead,  making  ivo  sign  of  life  whatever,  save  to  gently  hoist  its  thick  brush  now  and  then  :  whereupon  many  dull, 
curious  st-a-birds,  Graciiliit  bicrislalus,  in  their  intense  desire  to  know  all  about  it.  ll<-w  in  narrowing  circles  overhead,  lower  and  lower, 
closer  and  closer,  until  one  of  them  came  within  the  sure  reach  of  a  sudden  spring  and  a  pair  of  (puck  snapping  jaws,  while  the  gulls 
and  others,  rising  safe  ami  high  above,  screamed  out  iu  seeming  contempt  for  the  struggles  of  the  unhappy  '•  shag  ',  and  rendered  hideous 
approbation. 


14  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

pasturage  by  so  doing.  The  natives  of  St.  Paul  have  a  strange  passion  for  seal-fed  pork,  and  tbere  are  quite  a 
large  number  of  bogs  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul  and  a  few  on  St.  George.  The  pigs  soon  become  entirely  carnivorous, 
living,  to  the  practical  exclusion  of  all  other  diet,  on  the  carcasses  of  seals. 

Chickens  are  kept  with  much  difficulty,  ia  fact  it  is  only  possible  to  save  their  lives  when  the  natives  take  them 
into  their  own  rooms,  or  keep  them  above  their  heads,  in  their  dwellings,  during  winter. 

BIRD  LIFE. — While  the  great  exhibition  of  pinnipedia  preponderates  over  every  other  feature  of  animal  life  on 
the  seal-islands,  still  we  find  a  wonderful  aggregate  of  ornithological  representation  thereon.  The  spectacle  of  birds 
nesting  and  breeding,  as  they  do  at  St.  George  island,  to  the  number  of  millions,  flecking -those  high  basaltic  bluffs 
of  its  shore-line,  29  miles  in  length,  with  color-patches  of  black,  brown,  and  white,  as  they  perch  or  cling  to  the 
mural  cliffs  in  the  labor  of  incubation,  is  a  sight  of  exceeding  attraction  and  constant  novelty.  It  affords  the 
naturalist  au  opportunity  of  a  life-time  for  minute  investigation  into  all  the  details  of  the  reproduction  of  these  va>t 
flocks  of  circuniboreal  water-fowl.  The  island  of  St.  Paul,  owing  to  the  low  character  of  its  shore-line,  a  large 
proportion  of  which  is  but  slightly  elevated'  above  the  sea  and  is  sandy,  is  not  visited,  and  cannot  be  visited,  by 
such  myriads  of  birds  as  are  seen  at  St.  George;  but  the  small,  rocky  Walrus  islet  is  fairly  covered  with  sea-fowls, 
and  the  Otter  island  bluffs  are  crowded  by  them  to  their  utmost  capacity  of  reception.  The  birds  string  themselves 
anew  around  the  cliffs  with  every  succeeding  season,  like  endless  ribbons  stretched  across  their  rugged  faces,  while 
their  numbers  are  simply  countless.  The  variety  is  not  great,  however,  in  these  millions  of  breeding-birds.  It  consists 
of  only  ten  or  twelve  names;  the  whole  list  of  avafauna  belonging  to  the  Pribylov  islands,  stragglers  and  migatory, 
contains  but  40  species.  Conspicuous  among  the  last-named  class  is  the  robin,  a  straggler  which  was  brought  from 
the  main  land,  evidently  against  its  own  effort,  by  a  storm  or  a  gale  of  wind,  which  also  brings  against  their  will 
the  solitary  hawks,  owls,  and  waders,  occasionally  noticed  here. 

After  the  dead  silence  of  a  long  ice  bound  winter,  the  arrival  of  large  flocks  of  those  sparrows  of  the  north,  the 
" choochkies,"  Plialeria  microceros,  is  most  cheerful  and  interesting.  Those  plump  little  auks  are  bright,  fearless, 
vivacious  birds,  with  bodies  round  and  fat.  They  come  usually  in  chattering  flocks  on  or  immediately  after  the  1st 
of  May,  and  are  caught  by  the  people  with  hand-scoops  or  dip-nets  to  any  number  that  may  be  required  for  the 
day's  consumption ;  their  tiny,  rotund  forms  making  pies  of  rare,  savory  virtue,  and  being  also  baked  and  roasted 
and  stewed  in  every  conceivable  shape  by  the  Russian  cooks — indeed  they  are  equal  to  the  reed-birds  of  the  South. 
These  welcome  visitors  are  succeeded  along  about  the  20th  of  July  by  large  flocks  of  fat,  red-legged  turn-stones, 
Strepsilas  interpres,  which  come  in  suddenly  from  the  west  or  north,  where  they  have  been  breeding,  and  stop  on 
the  islands  for  a  month  or  six  weeks,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  feed  luxuriantly  upon  the  flesh-flies,  which  we  have 
just  noticed,  and  their  eggs.  Those  handsome  birds  go  in  among  the  seals,  familiarly  chasing  the  flies,  gnats,  etc. 
They  are  followed,  as  they  leave  in  September,  by  several  species  of  jack-snipe  and  a  plover,  Tringa  and  Charadrius; 
these,  however,  soon  depart,  as  early  as  the  end  of  October  and  the  beginning  of  November,  and  then  winter  fairly 
closes  in  upon  the  islands;  the  loud,  roaring,  incessant  seal-din,  together  with  the  screams  and  darkening  flight  of 
innumerable  water-fowl,  are  replaced  in  turn  again  by  absolute  silence,  marking  out  as  it  were  in-  lines  of  sharp  and 
vivid  contrast,  summer's  life  and  winter's  death. 

The  author  of  that  quaint  old  saying,  "Birds  of  a  feather  flock  together,"  might  well  have  gained  his  inspiration 
had  he  stood  under  the  high  bluffs  of  St.  George  at  any  season,  prehistoric  or  present,  during  the  breeding  of  the 
water-birds  there,  where  myriads  of  croaking  murres  and  flocks  of  screaming  gulls  darken  the  light  of  day  with 
their  fluttering  forms,  and  deafen  the  ear  with  their  shrill,  harsh  cries  as  they  do  now,  for  music  is  denied  to  all 
those  birds  of  the  sea.  Still,  in  spite  of  the  apparent  confusion,  he  would  have  taken  cogni/ance  of  the  fact,  that 
each  species  had  its  particular  location  and  kept  to  its  own  boundary,  according  to  the  precision  of  natural  law. 

FISHES. — With  regard  to  the  herpetology  of  the  islands,  I  may  state  that  the  most  careful  search  on  my  part 
was  not  rewarded  by  the  discovery  of  a  single  reptile.  In  the  province  of  ichthyology  I  gathered  only  a  few 
specimens,  the  scarcity  of  fish  being  easily  traceable  to  the  presence  of  the  seals  on  the  grounds  here.  Naturally 
enough  the  finny  tribes  avoid  the  seal-churned  waters  for  at  least  one  hundred  miles  around.  Among  the  few 
specimens,  however,  which  I  collected,  three  or  four  species  new  to  natural  science  were  found  and  have  since  been 
named  by  experts  in  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 

The  presence  of  such  great  numbers  of  amphibian  mammalia  about  the  waters,  during  five  or  six  months  of 
every  year,  renders  all  fishing  abortive,  and  unless  expeditions  are  made  seven  or  eight  miles  at  least  from  the  land, 
and  you  desire  to  catch  large  halibut,  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  cast  your  line  over  the  gunwhale  of  the  boat.  The 
natives  capture  "poltoos"  or  halibut,  Hippoglostsus  vulyaris,  within  two  or  three  miles  of  the  Reef-point  on  St. 
Paul  and  the  south  shore  during  July  and  August.  After  this  season  the  weather  is  usually  so  stormy  and  cold 
that  the  fishermen  venture  no  more  until  the  ensuing  summer. 

AQUATIC  INVERTEBRATES. — With  regard  to  the  Moltusca  of  the  Pribylov  waters,  the  characteristic  forms  of 
Toxoglossata  and  Heteroylossata  peculiar  to  this  north  latitude  are  most  abundant ;  of  the  Cephalopoda  I  have 
seen  only  a  species  of  squid,  Sepia  loligo.  The  clustering  whelks,  Buccinoil,  literally  conceal  large  areas  of  the 
bowlders  on  the  beaches  here  and  there;  they  are  in  immense  numbers,  and  are  crushed  under  your  foot  at  almost 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  15 

every  step  when  yon  pass  over  long  reaches  of  rocky  shingle  at  low  tide.  A  few  of  the  larger  Fusus  are  found, 
and  the  live  and  dead  shells  of  Limacina  are  in  great  abundance  wherever  the  floating  kelp-beds  afford  them  shelter. 

On  laud  a  very  large  number  of  shells  of  the  genera  Succinea  and  Pupa  abound  all  over  the  islands;  on  the 
bluffs  of  St.  George  just  over  Garden  cove  I  gathered  a  beautiful  Helix. 

The  little  fres-h-water  lakes  and  ponds  contain  a  great  quantity  of  representatives  of  the  characteristic  genera 
Planorbis.  Mdanla.  Limnea,  and  that  pretty  little  bivalve,  the  Cyclas. 

Of  the  Crustacea,  the  Annelida,  and  Echinodtrmata,  there  is  abundant  representation  here.  The  sea-urchins, 
"repkie"  of  the  natives,  are  eagerly  sought  for  at  low  tide  and  eaten  raw  by  them.  The  Arctic  sea-clam,  Mya 
truncata,  is  once  in  a  long  time  found  here  (it  is  the  chief  food  of  the  walrus  of  Alaska),  and  the  species  of  Mytilus, 
the  mussels,  so  abundant  in  the  Aleutian  archipelago,  are  almost  absent  here  at  St.  Paul,  and  only  sparingly 
found  at  St.  George. 

The  waters  fairly  swarm  with  an  enormous  number  and  variety  of  Medusa;  or  jelly-fishes. 

The  sea- weeds  are  exceedingly  varied  and  abundant  here,  great  heaps  of  their  assorted  fronds  are  tossed  up  by 
every  gale  to  rot  upon  the  beaches. 

DIMENSION'S  AND  CONTOUR  OF  THE  ISLANDS. — Until  my  arrival  on  the  seal  islands  iu  April,  1872,  no  steps 
had  ever  been  taken  by  any  man  whomsoever  toward  ascertaining  the  extent  and  the  real  importance  of  these 
interests  of  the  government;  the  Russians  never  having  made  even  an  approximate  survey  of  the  land,  while  our 
owu  people  did  no  better.  I  was  very  much  surprised,  immediately  after  lauding,  and  calling  for  a  map  of  the 
island  of  St.  Paul,  to  have  an  odd  sketch,  traced  from  an  old  Russian  chart,  placed  before  me,  that  my  eye  stamped 
instantly  as  grotesque,  by  the  land-bearings  which  I  took  out  of  niy  window  on  the  spot.  It  was  a  matter  of  no 
special  concern,  however,  to  the  Russians ;  had  it  been,  doubtless  they  would  have  accurately  surveyed  the  whole 
field.  But  it  was  and  is  quite  different  with  us ;  and.  that  no  agent  of  the  Treasury  Department,  or  other  branches 
of  the  government,  had,  up  to  the  date  of  my  arrival,  given  it  the  slightest  thought  or  attention,  struck  me  as 
rather  strange.  It  was,  as  it  is,  and  ever  will  be,  a  matter  of  first  importance  to  a  correct  and  succinct  understanding  of 
the  subject,  and  it  was  the  first  thing  about  which  I  busied  myself.  I  present,  therefore,  with  this  memoir,  a  careful 
chart  of  each  island  and  the  contiguous  islets,  which  are  the  first  surveys  ever  made  upon  the  ground  having  the 
slightest  pretension  to  accuracy.*  The  reader  will  observe,  as  he  turns  to  these  maps,  the  striking  dissimilarity 
which  exists  between  them,  not  only  in  contour  but  in  physical  structure,  the  island  of  St.  Paul  being  the 
largest  iu  superficial  area,  aud  receiving  a  vast  majority  of  the  Pinnipedia  that  belong  to  both.  As  it  lies  in  Bering 
sea  to-day,  this  island  is  iu  its  greatest  length,  between  northeast  and  southwest  points,  13  miles,  air  line ;  and  a 
little  less  than  G  at  points  of  greatest  width.  It  has  a  superficial  area  of  about  33  square  miles,  or  21,120  acres,  of 
diversified,  rough,  and  .rocky  uplands,  rugged  hills,  and  smooth,  volcanic  cones,  which  either  set  down  boldly  to 
the  sea  or  fade  out  into  extensive  wet  and  mossy  flats,  passing  at  the  sea-margins  into  dry,  drifting,  sand-dune 
tracts.  It  has  42  miles  of  shore  line,  and  of  this  coast,  16.J  miles  are  hauled  over  by  fur-seals  en  masse.  At  the 
time  of  its  first  upheaval  above  the  sea,  it  doubtless  presented  the  appearance  of  ten  or  twelve  small  rocky,  bluffy 
islets  and  points,  upon  some  of  which  were  craters  that  vomited  breccia  and  cinders,  with  little  or  no  lava  overflowing. 
Active  jslutonic  agency  must  have  soon  ceased  after  this  elevation,  and  then  the  sea  around  about  commenced  the 
work  which  it  is  now  engaged  in :  of  building  on  to  the  skeleton  thus  created ;  and  it  has  progressed  to-day  so 
thoroughly  and  successfully  in  its  labor  of  sand-shifting,  together  with  the  aid  of  ice  floes,  in  their  action  of  grinding, 
lifting,  and  shoving,  that  nearly  all  of  these  scattered  islets  within  the  present  area  of  the  island,  and  marked  by 
its  bluffs  and  higher  uplands,  are  completely  bound  together  by  ropes  of  sand,  changed  into  enduring  bars  and 
ridges  of  water-worn  bowlders.  These  are  raised  above  the  highest  tides  by  winds  that  whirl  the  sand  up,  over, 
and  on  them,  as  it  drives  out  from  the  wash  of  the  surf  and  from  the  interstices  of  the  rocks,  lifted  up  and  pushed 
by  ice-fields. 

LAND  AND  SCENERY. — The  sand  which  plays  so  important  a  part  iu  the  formation  of  the  island  of  St.  Paul,  and  which 
is  almost  entirely  wanting  in  and  around  the  others  in  this  Pribylov  group,  is  principally  composed  of  Foraminiftra, 
together  witli  Diatomacea,  mixed  in  with  a  volcanic  base  of  fine  comminuted  black  and  reddish  lavas  and  old  friable 
gray  slates.  It  constitutes  the  chief  beauty  of  the  sea-shore  here,  for  it  changes  color  like  a  chameleon,  as  it  passes 
from  wet  to  dry,  being  a  rich  steely  black  at  the  surf-margin  and  then  drying  out  to  a  soft  purplish-brown  and  gray, 
succeeding  to  tints  most  delicate  of  reddish  and  pale  neutral,  when  warmed  by  the  sun  and  drifting  up  on  to  the 
higher  ground  with  the  wind.  The  sand-dune  tracts  on  this  island  are  really  attractive  in  the  summer,  especially 
so  during  those  rare  days  when  the  sun  comes  forth — the  unwonted  light  shimmers  over  them  and  the  most 
luxuriant  grass  and  variety  of  beautiful  flowers,  which  exist  in  profusion  thereon.  In  past  time,  as  these  sand 
and  bowlder  bars  were  forming  on  St.  Paul  island,  they,  in  making  across  from  islet  to  islet,  inclosed  small  bodies 
of  sea-water.  These  have,  by  evaporation  and  time,  by  the  flooding  of  rains  and  annual  melting  of  snow,  become, 
nearly  every  one  of  them,  fresh ;  they  are  all,  great  and  small,  well  shown  on  my  map,  which  locates  quite  a  large 
area  of  pure  water.  In  them,  as  I  have  hinted,  are  no  reptiles;  but  an  exquisite  species  of  liny  viviparous  fish 

•  These  surveys  have  siuce  been  continued  and  elaborated  by  H.  W.  Melntyre,  of  the  A.  C.  Co.,  and  Lieut.  Wasbburu  Mayuard,  U.  S.  X. 


10  THE  FISHERIES  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

exists  iu  the  lagoon-estuary  near  the  village,  ami  the  small  pure-water  lakes  of  the  natives  just  under  the  flanks  of 
Telegraph  hill.  The  Aleuts  assured  me  that  they  had  caught  fish  in  the  great  lake  toward  Northeast  point,  when 
they  lived  in  their  old  village  out  there,  but  I  never  succeeded  iu  getting  a  single  specimen.  The  waters  of  these 
pools  and  ponds  are  fairly  alive  with  vast  numbers  of  minute  Botifera,  which  sport  about  in  all  of  them  whenever 
they  are  examined.  Many  species  of  water-plants,  pond-lilies,  alga),  etc.,  are  found  iu  the  inland  waters,  especially 
in  the  large  lake  "Mee-sulk-mah-nee",  that  is  very  shallow. 

The  backbone  of  the  island,  running  directly  east  and  west,  from  shore  to  shore,  between  Polavina  point  and 
Einahnuhto  hills,  constitutes  the  high  land  of  the  island:  Polavina  Sopka,  an  old  extinct  cinder-crater,  550  feet; 
Boga  Slov,  an  upheaved  mass  of  splinted  lava,  600  feet;  and  the  hills  frowning  over  the  bluffs  there,  ou  the  west 
shore,  are  also  COO  feet  in  elevation  above  the  sea.  But  the  average  height  of  the  upland  between  is  uot  much  over 
100  to  150  feet  above  water-level,  rising  here  and  there  into  little  hills  and  broad,  rocky  ridges,  which  are  minutely 
sketched  upon  the  map.  From  the  northern  base  of  Polavina  Sopka  a  long  stretch  of  low  sand-flats  extend, 
inclosing  the  great  lake,  and  ending  in  a  narrow  neck  where  it  unites  with  Novastoshnah,  or  Northeast  point.  Here 
the  volcanic  nodule  known  as  Hutchiuson's  hill,  with  its  low,  gradual  slopes,  trending  to  the  east  and  southward, 
makes  a  rocky  foundation  secure  and  broad,  upon  which  the  great  single  rookery  of  the  island,  the  greatest  in  the 
world,  undoubtedly,  is  located.  The  natives  say  that  when  they  first  came  to  these  islands,  Novastoshnah  was  an 
island  by  itself,  to  which  they  went  in  boats  from  Vesolia  Mista;  and  the  lagoon  now  so  tightly  inclosed  was  then  an 
open  harbor,  iu  which  the  ships  of  the  old  Eussian  company  rode  safely  at  anchor.  To-day  no  vessel  drawing  ten 
feet  of  water  can  get  nearer  than  half  a  mile  of  the  village,  or  a  mile  from  this  lagoon. 

LACK  OF  HARBORS:  ANCHORAGES. — The  total  absence  of  a  harbor  at  the  Pribylov  islands  is  much  to  be 
regretted.  The  village  of  St.  Paul,  as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  map,  is  so  located  as  to  command  the  best 
landings  for  vessels  that  can  be  made  during  the  prevalence  of  any  and  all  winds,  except  those  from  the  south. 
From  these  there  is  no  shelter  for  ships,  unless  they  run  around  to  the  north  side,  where  they  are  unable  to  hold 
practicable  communication  with  the  people  or  to  discharge.  At  St.  George  matters  are  still  worse,  for  the  prevailing 
northerly,  westerly,  and  easterly  winds  drive  the  boats  away  from  the  village  roadstead,  and  weeks  often  pass  at 
either  island,  but  more  frequently  at  the  latter,  ere  a  cargo  is  landed  at  its  destination.  Under  the  very  best 
circumstances,  it  is  both  hazardous  and  trying  to  load  and  unload  ship  at  any  of  these  places.  The  approach  to  St. 
Paul  by  water  during  thick  weather,  is  doubtful  and  dangerous,  for  the  laud  is  mostly  low  at  the  coast,  and  the 
fogs  hang  so  dense  and  heavy  over  and  around  the  hills  as  to  completely  obliterate  their  presence  from  vision. 
The  captain  fairly  feels  his  way  iu,  by  throwing  his  lead-line  and  straining  his  ear  to  catch  the  muffled  roar  of  the 
seal-rookeries,  which  are  easily  detected  when  once  understood,  high  above  the  booming  of  the  surf.  At  St.  George, 
however,  the  bold,  abrupt,  bluffy  coast  everywhere  all  around,  with  its  circling  girdle  of  flying  water-birds  far  out  to 
sea,  looms  up  quite  prominently,  even  in  the  fog ;  or,  iu  other  words,  the  navigator  can  notice  it  before  he  is  hard 
aground  or  struggling  to  haul  to  windward  from  the  breakers  under  his  lee.  There  are  no  reefs  making  out  from 
St.  George  worthy  of  notice,  but  there  are  several  very  dangerous  and  extended  ones  peculiar  to  St.  Paul,  which 
Captain  John  G.  Baker,  iu  command  of  the  vessel*  under  my  direction,  carefully  souuded  out,  and  which  I  have 
placed  upon  my  chart  for  the  guidance  of  those  who  may  sail  iu  my  wake  hereafter. 

When  the  wind  blows  from  the  north,  northwest,  and  west  to  southwest,  the  company's  steamer  trips  her 
anchor  iu  eight  fathoms  of  water  abreast  of  the  Black  Bluffs  opposite  the  village,  from  which  anchorage  her  stores 
are  lightered  ashore;  but  in  the  northeasterly,  easterly,  and  southeasterly  winds,  she  hauls  arouud  to  the  Lagoon 
bay  west  of  the  village,  and  there,  little  less  than  half  a  mile  from  the  landing,  she  drops  her  anchor  in  nine  fathoms 
of  water,  and  makes  considerable  headway  at  discharging  the  cargo.  Sailing  craft  come  to  both  anchorages,  but, 
however,  keep  still  farther  out,  though  they  choose  relatively  the  same  positions,  but  seek  deeper  water  to  swing 
to  their  cables  iu:  the  holdiug-gronnd  is  excellent.  At  St.  George  the  steamer  comes,  wind  permitting,  directly  to 
the  village  on  the  north  shore,  close  in,  and  finds  her  anchorage  in  ten  fathoms  of  water,  in  poor  holding-ground; 
but  it  is  only  when  three  or  four  days  have  passed  free  from  northerly, 'westerly,  or  easterly  winds,  that  she  cau 
make  the  first  attempt  to  safely  unload.  The  landing  here  is  a  very  bad  one,  surf  breaking  most  violently  upon 
the  rocks  from  one  end  of  the  year  to  the  other. 

OTTER  ISLAND. — The  observer  will  notice  that  six  miles  southward  and  westward  of  the  reef  of  St.  Paul 
island,  is  a  bluffy  islet,  called  by  the  Eussians  Otter  island,  because  in  olden  time  the  Promyshleniks  are  said  to  have 
captured  many  thousands  of  sea  otters  on  its  stony  coast.  It  rises  from  the  ocean,  sheer  and  bold,  an  unbroken  mural 
precipice  extending  nearly  all  around,  of  sea-front,  but  dropping  ou  its  northern  margin,  at  the  water,  low,  and  slightly 
elevated  above  the  surf-wash,  with  a  broken,  rocky  beach  and  no  sand.  The  height  of  the  cliffs,  at  their  greatest 
elevation  over  the  west  end,  is  300  feet,  while  the  eastern  extremity  is  quite  low,  and  terminated  t>y  a  queer,  funnel- 
shaped  crater-hill,  which  is  as  distinctly  defined,  and  as  plainly  scorched,  and  devoid  of  the  slightest  sign  of 
vegetation  within,  as  though  it  had  burned  up  and  out  yesterday.  This  crater-point  ou  Otter  island  is  the  only 
xinique  feature  of  the  place,  for  with  the  exception  of  that  low  north  shore,  before  mentioned,  where  many  thousand 
of  "  bachelor  seals"  haul  out  during  the  season  every  year,  there  is  nothing  else  worthy  of  notice  concerning  it.  A 

*  United  States  re  venue- marine  cutter  Reliance,  June  to  October,  1874. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


17 


bad  reef  makes  out  to  the  westward  and  northward,  which  I  have  indicated  from  my  observation  of  the  rocks 

awash,  looking  down  upon  them  from  the  bluffs.    Great  numbers  of  water-fowl  roost  upon  the  cliffs,  and  there  are 

here  about  as  many  blue  foxes  to  the  acre  as  the  law  of  life  allows.    A  small,  shallow  pool  of  impure  water  lies  close 

down  to  the  north  shore,  right 

umler  a  low  hill,  upon  which  the 

Prussians  in  oldeii  time  posted  a 

huge  Greek  cross,  that    is    still 

standing;    indeed,  it,  was  .their 

habit  to  erect  crosses  on  all  the 

hills  in  those  olden  times ;  one  of 

them  is  standing  at  Northeast  point,  on  the  large  sand-dune  which  I  have  called  St.  John  or  Cross-hill ;  and  another 

one,  a  sound,  stalwart  stick,  yet  faces  the  gale  and  driving  "  boorgas"  to-day  on  Boga  Slov,  as  it  has  faced  them  for 

the  last  sixty  years. 

Otter     island     has, 

since  my   return   in 

1>7L',  had  cousidera-" 

ble  attention  in  the  

------- :  ' "•"! : —          "    -•-  =-/ 

iLUFF    jo.FT. 


EAST  SHORE. 
[Bearing  west  by  compass,  3  miles  distant.] 


CRATER    PT.  CROSS 

PROFILE  OF  THE  xoBTH  SHORE  OF  OTTER  ISLAND  (from  steamer's  anchorage,  Zoltoi  bay,  St.  Paul). 

[Bearing  sooth  by  compass,  6  miles  distant.] 


Treasury  Depart- 
ment, owing  to  the 
fart  that  cer  fiiu  par- 
ties contended  that  it  lies  without  the  jurisdiction  of  the  law  which  covers  and  protects  the  seal  life  on  the  Pribylov 
islands.  This  survey  of  mine,  however,  settles  that  question:  the  island  is  within  the  pale  of  law.  It  is  a  rock 
adjacent  to  and  in  the  waters  of  St.  Paul,  and  resorted  to  only  by  those  seals  which  are  born  upon  and  belong  to 
the  breeding-grounds  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  and  I  have  never  seen  at  any  one  time  more  than  three  or  four 
thousand  "holluschickie"  hauled  out  here. 

WALKTS  ISLAND. — To  the  eastward,  six  miles  from  Northeast  paint,  will  be  noticed  a  small  rock  named  Walrus 
island.  It  is  a  mere  ledge  of  lava,  flat-capped,  lifted  just  above  the  wash  of  angry  waves ;  indeed,  in  storms  of 
great  power,  the  observer,  standing  on  either  Cross  or  Hutchinson's  hills,  with  a  field-glass,  can  see  the  water 
breaking  clear  over  it.  These  storms,  however,  occur  late  in  the  season,  usually  in  October  or  November.  This 
island  has  little  or  no  commercial  importance,  being  scarcely  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length  and  100  yards 
in  point  of  greatest  width,  with  bold  water  all  around,  entirely  free  from  reefs  or  sunken  rocks.  As  might  be 
expected,  there  is  no  fresh  water  on  it.  In  a  fog  it  makes  an  ugly  neighbor  for  the  sea-captains  when  they  are 
searching  for  St.  Paul;  they  all  know  it,  and  they  all  dread  it.  It  is  not  resorted  to  bj~  the  fur-seals  or  by  sea-lions  in 
particular  ;  but,  singularly  enough,  it  is  frequented  by  several  hundred  male  walrus,  to  the  exclusion  of  females, 
every  summer.  A  few  sea  lions,  but  only  a  very  few,  however,  breed  here.  On  account  of  the  rough  weather,  fogs, 
etc.,  this  little  islet  is  s  Idom  visited  by  the  natives  of  St.  Paul,  and  then  only  in  the  egging  season  of  late  June 
and  early  July;  then  that  surf-beaten  rock  literally  swarms  with  breeding  water- fowl. 

This  low,  tiny,  rocky  islet  is,  perhaps,  the  most  interesting  single  spot  now  known  to  the  naturalist,  who  may 
land  in  northern  seas,  to  study  the  habits  of  bird-life ;  for  here,  without  exertion  or  risk,  he  can  observe  and  walk 
among  tens  upon  tens  of  thousands  of  screaming  water-fowl,  and  as  he  sits  down  upon  the  polished  lava  rock,  he 
becomes  literally  ignored  and  environed  by  these  feathered'  friends,  as  they  reassume  their  varied  positions  of 
incubation,  which  he  disturbs  them  from  by  his  arrival.  Generation  after  generation  of  their  kind  have  resorted 
to  this  rock  unmolested,  and  to-day,  when  yon  get  among  them,  all  doubt  and  distrust  seems  to  have  been  eliminated 
from  their  natures.  The  island  itself  is  rather  unusual  in  those  formations  which  we  find  peculiar  to  Alaskan 
waters.  It  is  almost  "flat,  with  slight,  irregular  undulations  on  top,  spreading  over  an  area  of  five  acres,  perhaps. 
It  rises  abruptly,  though  low,  from  the  sea,  and  it  has  no  safe  beach  upon  which  a  person  can  land  from  a  boat ; 
not  a  stick  of  timber  or  twig  of  shrubbery  ever  grew  upon  it,  though  the  scant  presence  of  low,  crawling  grasses  in 
the  central  portions  prevents  the  statement  that  all  vegetation  is  absent.  Were  it  not  for  the  frequent  rains  and 
dissolving  fog,  characteristic  of  summer  weather  here,  the  guano  accumulation  would  be  something  wonderful  to 
contemplate — Peru  would  have  a  rival.  As  it  is,  however,  the  birds,  when  they  return,  year  after  year,  find  their 
nesting-floor  swept  as  clean  as  though  they  had  never  sojourned  there  before.  The  scene  of  confusion  and  uproar 
that  presented  itself  to  my  astonished  senses  when  I  approached  this  p^ace  in  search  of  eggs,  one  threatening, 
f°8gy  July  morning,  may  be  better  imagined  than  described,  for  as  the  clumsy  bidarrah  came  under  the  lee  of  the 
low  cliffs,  swarm  upon  swarm  of  thousands  of  murres  or  "aries"  dropped  in  fright  from  their  nesting- shelves,  and 
before  they  had  control  of  their  flight,  they  struck  to  the  right  and  left  of  me,  like  so  many  cannon  balls.  I  was  forced, 
in  self-protection,  to  instantly  crouch  for  a  few  moments  under  the  gunwale  of  the  boat  until  the  struggling,  startled 
flock  passed,  like  an  irresistible,  surging  wave,  over  my  head.  Words  cannot  depict  the  amazement  and 
curiosity  with  which  I  ga/ed  around,  after  climbing  up  to  the  rocky  plateau  and  standing  among  myriads  ut 
breeding-birds,  that  fairly  covered  the  entire  surface  of  the  island  with  their  shrinking  forms,  while  others  whirled 
in  rapid  flight  over  my  head,  as  wheels  within  wheels,  so  thickly  iuter-niuuing  that  the  blue  and  grav  of  the  sky 
2 


18  THK  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

i 

was  hidden  from  iny  view.  Add  to  tbis  impression  tlie  stuuiiiug  whir  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  strong,  beating 
wings,  the  shrill  screams  of  the  gulls,  and  the  muffled  croaking  of  the  "aries",  coupled  with  an  indescribable, 
disagreeable  smell  which  arose  from  the  broken  eggs  and  other  decaying  substances,  and  a  faint  idea  may  be 
evoked  of  the  strange  reality  spread  before  me.  Were  it  not  for  this  island  and  the  ease  with  which  the  natives 
can  gather,  in  a  few  hours,  tons  upon  tons  of  sea-fowl  eggs,  the  people  of  the  village  would  be  obliged  to  go  to  the 
westward,  and  suspend  themselves  from  the  lofty  cliffs  of  Einahuuhto,  dangling  over  the  sea  by  ropes,  as  their 
neighbors  are  only  too  glad  and  willing  to  do  at  St.  George. 

ST.  PAUL. — A  glance  at  the  map  of  St.  Paul,  shows  that  nearly  half  of  its  superficial  area  is  low  and  quite  flat, 
not  much  elevated  above  the  sea.  Wherever  the  sand-dune  tracts  are  located,  and  that  is  right  along  the  coast,  is 
found  an  irregular  succession  of  hummocks  and  hillocks,  drifted  by  the  wind,  which  are  very  characteristic.  On  the 
summits  of  these  hillocks  the  Elymus  has  taken  root  in  times  past,  and,  as  the  sand  drifts  up,  it  keeps  growing  on  and 
up,  so  that  the  quaint  spectacle  is  presented  of  large  stretches  to  the  view,  wherein  sand-dunes,  entirely  bare  of  all 
vegetation  at  their  base  and  on  their  sides,  are  crowned  with  a  living  cap  of  the  brightest  green — a  tuft  of  long, 
waving  grass  blades  which  will  not  down.  None  of  this  peculiar  landscaping,  however,  is  seen  on  St.  George,  not 
even  in  the  faintest  degree.  Travel  about  St.  Paul,  with,  the  exception  of  the  road  to  Northeast  point,  where  the 
natives  take  advantage  of  low  water  to  run  on  the  hard,  wet  sand,  is  exceedingly  difficult,  and  there  are  examples 
of  only  a  few  white  men  who  have  ever  taken  the  trouble  and  expended  the  physical  energy  necessary  to  accomplish 
the  comparatively  short  walk  from  the  village  to  Nahsay  vernia,  or  the  north  shore.  Walking  over  the  moss-hidden 
and  slippery  rocks,  or  tumbling  over  slightly  uncertain  tussocks,  is  a  task  and  not  a  pleasure.  On  St.  George, 
with  the  exception  of  a  half-mile  path  to  the  village  cemetery  and  back,  nobody  pretends  to  walk,  except  the  natives 
who  go  to  and  from  the  rookeries  in  their  regular  seal-drives.  Indeed,  I  am  told  that  I  am  the  only  white,  man 
who  has  ever  traversed  the  entire  coast-line  of  both  islands.  (See  note,  39,  E.) 

ST.  GEORGE. — Turning  to  St.  George  and  its  profile,  presented  by  the  accompanying  map,  the  observer  will  be 
struck  at  once  by  the  solidity  of  that  little  island  and  its  great  boldness,  rising,  as  it  does,  sheer  and  precipitous 
from  the  sea  all  around,  except  at  the  three  short  reaches  of  the  coast  indicated  on  the  chart,  and  where  the  only 
chance  to  come  ashore  exists. 

The  seals  naturally  have  no  such  opportunity  to  gain  a  footing  here  as  they  have  on  St.  Paul,  hence  their 
comparative  insignificance  as  to  number.  The  island  itself  is  a  trifle  over  ten  miles  in  extreme  length,  east  and  west, 
and  about  four  and  a  quarter  miles  in  greatest  width,  north  and  south.  It  looks,  when  plotted,  somewhat  like  an 
old  stone  ax;  and,  indeed,  when  I  had  finished  my  first  contours  from  my  field-notes,  the  ancient  stone-ax  outline 
so  disturbed  me  that  I  felt  obliged  to  resurvey  the  southern  shore,  in  order  that  I  might  satisfy  my  own  mind  as  to 
the  accuracy  of  my  first  work.  It  consists  of  two  great  plateaus,  with  a  high  upland  valley  between,  the  western 
table  land  dropping  abruptly  to  the  sea  at  Dalnoi  Mees,  while  the  eastern  falls  as  precipitately  at  Waterfall  Head  and 
Tolstoi  Mees.  There  are  several  little  reservoirs  of  fresh  water — I  can  scarcely  call  them  lakes — on  this  island ; 
pools,  rather,  that  the  wet  sphagnum  seems  to  always  keep  full,  and  from  which  drinking-water  in  abundance  is 
everywhere  found.  At  Garden  cove  a  small  stream,  the  only  one  on  the  Pribylov  group,  empties  into  the  sea. 

St.  George  has  an  area  of  about  27  square  miles  ;  it  has  29  miles  of  coast-line,  of  which  only  two  and  a  quarter 
are  visited  by  the  fur-seals,  and  which  is  in  fact  all  the  eligible  landing-ground  afforded  them  by  the  structure  of 
the  island.  Nearly  half  of  the  shore  of  St.  Paul  is  a  sandy  beach,  while  on  St.  George  there  is  less  than  a  mile  of 
it  all  put  together,  namely,  a  few  hundred  yards  in  front  of  the  vil  age,  the  same  extent  on  the  Garden  cove  beach 
southeast  side,  and  less  than  half  a  mile  at  Zapadnie  on  the  south  side. 

Just  above  the  Garden  cove,  under  the  overhanging  bluffs,  several  thousand  sea-lions  hold  exclusive,  though  shy, 
possession.  Here  there  is  a  half  mile  of  good  landing.  On  the  north  shore  of  the  island,  three  miles  west  from  the 
village,  a  grand  bluff  wall,  of  basalt  and  tufa  intercalated,  rises  abruptly  from  the  sea  to  a  sheer  height  of  920  feet 
at  its  reach  of  greatest  elevation,  thence,  dropping  a  little,  runs  clear  around  the  island  to  Zapaduie,  a  distance  of 
nearly  10  miles,  without  affording  a  single  passage-way  up  or  down  to  the  sea  that  thunders  at  its  base.  Upon  its 
innumerable  narrow  shelf-margins,  and  iu  its  countless  chinks  and  crannies,  and  back  therefrom  over  the  extended 
area  of  lava-shingled  inland  ridges  and  terraces,  millions  upon  millions  of  water-fowl  breed  during  the  summer 
months. 

The  general  altitude  of  St.  George,  though  in  itself  not  great,  has,  however,  an  average  three  times  higher 
than  that  of  St.  Paul,  the  elevation  of  which  is  quite  low,  and  slopes  gently  down  to  the  sea  east  and  north  ; 
St.  George  rises  abruptly,  with  exceptional  spots  for  landing.  The  loftiest  summit  on  St.  George,  the'top  of  1  he  hill 
right  back  to  the  southward  of  the  village,  is  930  feet,  and  is  called  by  the  natives  Ahluckeyak.  That  on  St.  Paul,  as 
I  have  before  said,  is  Boga  Slov  hill,  GOO  feet.  All  elevations  on  either  island,  15  or  20  feet  above  sea-level,  are  rough 
and  hummocky,  with  the  exception  of  the  sand-dune  tracts  at  St.  Paul  and  the  summits  of  the  cinder  hills,  on  both 
islands.  Weathered  out  or  washed  from  the  basalt  and  pockets  of  olivine  on  either  island  are  aggregates  of  angite, 
seen  most  abundant  on  the  summit  slopes  of  Ahluckeyak  hill,  St.  George.  Specimens  from  the  stratified  bands  of 
old,  friable,  gray  lavas,  so  conspicuous  on  the  shore  of  this  latter  island,  show  the  existence  of  hornblende  and 
vitreous  feldspar  iu  considerable  quantity,  while  on  the  south  shore,  near  the  Garden  cove,  is  a  large  dike  of  a  bluish 
and  greenish  gray  phouolith,  iu  which  numerous  small  crystals  of  spinel  are  found.  A  dike,  with  well-defined 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  19 

walls  of  old,  close-grained,  clay-colored  lava,  is  near  the  village  of  St.  George,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  east  from  the 
landing,  in  the  face  of  those  reddish  breccia  bluffs  that  rise  from  the  sea.  It  is  the  only  example  of  the  kind  on  the 
islands.  The  bases  or  foundations  of  the  Pribylov  islands  are,  all  of  them,  basaltic;  some  are  compact  and  grayish- 
white,  but  most  of  them  exceedingly  porous  and  ferruginous.  Upon  this  solid  floor  are  many  hills  of  brown  and 
red  tufa,  cinder-heaps,  etc.  Polavina  Sopka,  the  second  point  in  elevation  on  St.  Paul  island,  is  almost  entirely 
built  up  of  red  scoria  and  breccia;  so  is  Ahluckeyak  hill,  on  St.  George,  and  the  cap  to  the  high  bluffs  opposite. 
The  village  hill  at  St.  Paul,  Cone  hill,  the  Einahuuhto  peaks,  Crater  hill,  North  hill,  and  Little  Polaviua  are  all 
ash-heaps  of  this  character.  The  bluffs  at  the  shore  of  Polavina  point,  St.  Paul,  show  in  a  striking  manner  a 
section  of  the  geological  structure  of  the  island.  The  tufas  on  both  islands,  at  the  surface,  decompose  and  weather 
into  the  base  of  good  soil,  which  the  severe  climate,  however,  renders  useless  to  the  husbandman.  There  is  not  a 
trace  of  a  granitic  or  a  gueissic  rock  found  in  situ.  Metamorphic  bowlders  have  been  collected  along  the  beaches 
and  pushed  up  by  the  ice-floes  which  have  brought  them  down  from  the  Siberian  coast  away  to  the  northwest. 
The  dark -brown  tufa  bluffs  and  the  breccia  walls  at  the  east  landing  of  St.  Paul  island,  known  as  "Black  bluffs", 
rise  suddenly  from  the  sea  GO  to  80  feet,  with  stratified'  horizontal  lines  of  light-gray  calcareous  conglomerate,  or 
cement,  in  which  are  imbedded  sundry  fossils  characteristic  of  and  belonging  to  the  Tertiary  age,  such  as  Cardium 
grcenlandicum,  C.  decoratum,  and  Astarte  peetunculata,  etc.  This  is  the  only  locality  within  the  purview  of  Uie 
Pribylov  islands  where  any  paleontological  evidence  of  their  age  can  be  found.  These  specimens,  as  indicated,  are 
exceedingly  abundant;  I  brought  down  a  whole  scries,  gathered  there  at* the  east  lauding  or  "  Navastock  ",  in  a 
short  half-hour's  search  and  labor. 

WHY  THESE  ISLANDS  ARE  FREQUENTED  BY  FUR-SEALS. — The  fact  that  the  fur-seals  frequent  these  islands  and 
those  of  Bering  and  Copper,  on  the  Itussiau  side,  to  the  exclusion  of  other  land,  seems  at  first  a  little  singular,  to 
say  the  least;  but  when  we  come  to  examine  the  subject  we  find  that  these  animals,  when  they  repair  hither  to  rest 
lor  two  or  three  months  on  the  laud,  as  they  must  do  by  their  habit  during  the  breeding-season,  they  require  a  cool, 
moist  atmosphere,  imperatively  coupled  with  firm,  well-drained  land,  or  dry,  broken  rocks,  or  shingle  rather,  upon 
which  to  take  their  positions  and  remain  undisturbed  by  the  weather  and  the  sea  for  the  lengthy  period  of  repro- 
duction. If  the  rookery-ground  is  hard  and  flat,  with  an  admixture  of  loam  or  soil,  puddles  are  speedily  formed 
in  this  climate,  where  it  rains  almost  every  day,  and  when  not  raining,  rain-fogs  take  quick  succession  and  continue 
the  saturation,  making  thus  a  muddy  slime,  which  very  quickly  takes  the,  hair  off  the  animals  whenever  it  plasters 
or  wherever  it  fastens  on  them ;  hence,  they  carefully  avoid  atiy  such  landing.  If  they  occupy  a  sandy  shore  the 
rain  beats  that  material  into  their  large,  sensitive  eyes,  and  into  their  fur,  so  they  are  obliged,  from  simple  irrita- 
tion, to  leave  and  hunt  the  sea  for  relief. 

The  seal  islands  now  under  discussion  offer  to  the  Pinnipedia  very  remarkable  advantages  for  landing, 
especially  St.  Paul,  where  the  ground  of  basaltic  rock  and  of  volcanic  tufa  or  cement  slopes  up  from  so  many  points 
gradually  above  the  sea,  making  thereby  a  perfectly  adapted  resting-place  for  any  number,  from  a  thousand  to 
millions,  of  those  intelligent  animals,  which  can  lie  out  here  from  May  until  October  every  year  in  perfect  physical 
peace  and  security.  There  is  not  a  rod  of  ground  of  this  character  offered  to  these  animals  elsewhere  in  all  Alaska, 
not  on  the  Aleutian  chain,  not  on  the  mainland,  not  on  St.  Matthew  or  St.  Lawrence.  Both  of  the  latter  islands  were 
surveyed  by  myself,  with  special  reference  to  this  query,  in  1874;  every  foot  of  St.  Matthew  shore-line  was 
examined,  and  I  know  that  the  fur-seal  could  not  rest  on  the  low  clayey  lava  flats  there  in  contentment  a  single 
day;  hence  he  never  has  rested  there,  nor  will  he  in  the  future.  As  to  St.  Lawrence,  it  is  so  ice-bound  and  snow- 
covered  in  spring  and  early  summer,  to  say  nothing  of  numerous  other  physical  disadvantages,  that  it  never  becomes 
of  the  slightest  interest  to  the  seals. 


D.  THE  OCCUPANTS  OF. THE  ISLANDS. 

5.  THE  NATIVES  OF  THE  ISLANDS. 

COLONIZATION  BY  EUSSIANS  AND  ALEUTS:  EARLY  HISTORY. — When  Pribylov,  in  taking  possession,  landed  on 
St.  George  a  part  of  his  little  ship's  crew,  July,  1786,  he  knew  that,  as  it  was  uninhabited,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  create  a  colony  there,  from  which  to  draft  laborers  to  do  the  killing,  skinning,  and  curing  of  the  peltries;  there- 
fore he  and  his  associates,  and  his  rivals  after  him,  imported  natives  of  Oonalashka  and  Atkha — passive,  docile 
Aleuts.  They  founded  their  first  village  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  eastward  of  one  of  the  principal  rookeries 
on  St.  George,  now  called  "Starry  Ateel",  or  "Old  settlement'';  a  village  was  also  located  at  Zapaduie,  and  a  suc- 
cession of  barrabaras  planted  at  Garden  cove.  Then,  during  the  following  season,  more  men  were  brought  up  from 
Atkha  and  taken  over  to  St.  Paul,  where  five  or  six  rival  traders  posted  themselves  on  the  north  shore,  near  and 
at  "Maroonitch",  and  at  the  head  of  the  Big  lake,  among  the  sand  dunes  there.  They  were  then  as  they  arc  now, 
somewhat  given  to  riotous  living,  if  they  only  had  the  chance,  and  the  ruins  of  the  Big  lake  settlement  are  pleasantly 
remembered  by  the  descendants  of  those  pioneers  to-day,  on  St.  Paul,  who  take  off  their  hats  as  they  pass  by,  to 


20  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

affectionately  salute,  and  call  tlie  place  "Vesolia  Mista",  or  "Jolly  Spot";  the  old  men  telling  me,  in  a  low  whisper, 
that  "in  those  good  old  days  they  had  plenty  of  rum".  But,  when  the  pressure  of  competition  became  great,  another 
village  was  located  at  Polaviua,  and  still  another  at  Zapadnie,  until  the  activity  and  unscrupulous  energy  of  all  tliese 
rival  settlements  well-nigh  drove  out  and  eliminated  the  seals  in  1790.  Three  years  later  the  whole  territory  of 
Alaska  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  absolute  power  vested  in  the  Eussiau-American  Company.  These  islands  were 
in  the  bill  of  sale,  and  early  in  1799  the  competing  traders  were  turned  off  neck  and  heels  from  them,  and  the  Fribylov 
group  passed  under  the  control  of  a  single  man,  the  iron-willed  Barauov.  The  people  on  St.  Paul  were  then  all  drawn 
together,  for  economy  and  warmth,  into  a  single  settlement  at  Polavina.  Their  life  in  those  days  must  have  been 
miserable.  They  were  mere  slaves,  without  the  slightest  redress  from  any  insolence  or  injury  which  their  masters 
might  see  fit,  in  petulance  or  brutal  orgies,  to  inflict  upon  them.  Here  they  lived  and  died,  unnoticed  and  uncared 
for,  in  large  barracoons  half  under  ground  and  dirt  roofed,  cold,  and  filthy.  Along  toward  the  beginning  or  end  of 
1825,  in  order  that  they  might  reap  the  advantage  of  being  located  best  to  load  and  unload  ships,  the  Polavina 
settlement  was  removed  to  the  present  village  site,  as  indicated  on  the  map,  and  the  natives  have  lived  there  ever 
since. 

On  St.  George  the  several  scattered  villages  were  abandoned,  and  consolidated  at  the  existing  location  some 
years  later,  but  for  a  different  reason.  The  labor  of  bringing  the  seal-skins  over  to  Garden  cove,  which  is  the  best 
and  surest  lauding,  was  so  great,  and  that  of  carrying  them  from  the  north  shore  to  Zapadnie  still  greater,  that  it  was 
decided  to  place  the  consolidated  settlement  at  such  a  point  between  them,  on  the  north  shore,  that  the  least  trouble 
and  exertion  of  conveyance  would  be  necessary.  A  better  place,  geographically,  for  the  busii  ess  of  gathering  the 
skins  and  salting  them  down  at  St.  George  cannot  be  found  on  the  island,  but  a  poorer  place  for  a  landing  it  is 
difficult  to  pick  out,  though  iu  this  respect  there  is  not  much  choice  outside  of  Garden  cove. 

CONTRAST.  IN  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  INHABITANTS  UNDER  RUSSIAN  AND  AMERICAN  RULE.— Up  to 
the  time  of  the  transfer  of  the  territory  and  leasing  of  the  islands  to  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  in  August, 
1870,  these  native  inhabitants  all  lived  in  huts  or  sod-walled  and  dirt-roofed  houses,  called  "  barrabkies,"  partly 
under  ground.  Most  of  these  huts  were  damp,  dark,  and  exceedingly  filthy :  it  seemed  to  be  the  policy  of  the 
short-sighted  Russian  management  to  keep  them  so,  and  to  treat  the  natives  not  near  so  well  as  they  treated  the  few 
hogs  and  dogs  which  they  brought  up  there  for  food  and  for  company.  The  use  of  seal-fat  for  fuel,  caused  the 
deposit  upon  everything  within  doors  of  a  thick  coat  of  greasy,  black  soot,  strongly  impregnated  with  a  damp, 
moldy,  and  indescribably  offensive  odor.  They  found  along  the  north  shore  of  St.  Paul  and  at  Northeast  point, 
occasional  scattered  pieces  of  drift-wood,  which  they  used,  carefully  soaked  anew  in  water  if  it  had  dried  out,  split 
into  little  fragments,  and,  trussing  the  blubber  with  it  when  making  their  fires,  the  combination  gave  rise  to  a 
roaring,  spluttering  blaze.  If  this  drift  wood  failed  them  at  any  time  when  winter  came  round,  they  were  obliged 
to  huddle  together  beneath  skins  iu  their  cold  huts,  and  live  or  die,  as  the  case  might  be.  But  the  situation  to-day 
has  changed  marvelously.  We  see  here  now  at  St.  Paul,  and  on  St.  George,  in  the  place  of  the  squalid,  filthy 
habitations  of  the  immediate  past,  two  villages  neat,  warm,  ai>d  contented.  Each  family  lives  in  a  snug  frame- 
dwelling;  every  house  is  lined  with  tarred  paper,  painted,  furnished  with  a  stove,  with  out-houses,  etc.,  complete; 
streets  laid  out,  and  the  foundations  of  these  habitations  regularly  plotted  thereon.  There  is  a  large  church  at  Sf. 
Paul,  and  a  less  pretentious  but  very  creditable  structure  of  the  same  character,  on  St.  George;  a  hospital  on  St. 
Paul,  with  a  full  and  complete  stock  of  drugs,  and  skilled  physicians  on  both  islands  to  take  care  of  the  people, 
free  of  cost.  There  is  a  school-house  on  each  island,  in  which  teachers  are  also  paid  by  the  company  eight  months 
in  the  year,  to  instruct  the  youth,  while  the  Russian  Church  is  sustained  entirely  by  the  pious  contributions  of  the 
natives  themselves  on  these  two  islands,  and  sustained  well  by  each  other.  There  are  ;  0  families,  or  80  houses,  on 
St.  Paul,  in  the  village,  with  20  or  24  such  houses  to  as  many  families  at  St.  George,  and  8  other  structures.  The 
large  ware-houses  and  salt-sheds  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  built  by  skillful  mechanics,  as  have  been  the 
dwellings  just  referred  to,  are  also  neatly  painted;  and,  taken  in  combination  with  the  other  features,  constitute  a 
picture  fully  equal  to  the  average  presentation  of  any  one  of  our  small  eastern  towns.  There  is  no  misery,  no 
downcast,  dejected,  suffering  humanity  here  to-day.  These  Aleuts,  who  enjoy  as  the  price  of  their  good  behaviour, 
J  the  sole  right  to  take  and  skin  seals  for  the  company,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  people,  are  known  to  and  by 
their  less  fortunate  neighbors  elsewhere  in  Alaska  as  the  "Bogatskie  Aloutov",  or  the  "rich  Aleuts".  The  example 
of  the  agents  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  on  both  islands,  from  the  beginning  of  its  lease,  and  the  course 
of  the  treasury  agents*  during  tlie  last  four  or  five  years,  have  been  silent  but  powerful  promoters  of  the  welfare 
of  these  people.  They  have  maintained  perfect  order:  they  have  directed  neatness,  and  cleanliness,  and  stimulated 
industry,  such  as  those  natives  had  never  before  dreamed  of. 

NUMBER  AND  CONDITION  OP  THE  ISLANDERS  IN  1880. — The  population  of  St.  Paul  is,  at  the  present  writing, 
298.  Of  these,  14  are  whites  (13  males  and  1  female),  128  male  Aleutians,  and  156  females.  On  St.  George  we 
have  92  souls:  4  white  males,  35  male  Aleutians,  and  53  females,  a  total  population  on  these  islands  of  390.  This 
is  an  increase  of  between  30  and  40  people  since  1873.  Prior  to  1873,  they  had  neither  much  increased  nor 
diminished  for  50  years,  but  would  have  fallen  oft'  rapidly  (for  the  births  were  never  equal  to  the  deaths)  had  not 

*  Messrs.  Morton,  Falconer,  Otis,  Moultou,  Scribner,  aud  Bcaman. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  21 

v  recruits  been  regularly  drawn  from  the  mainland  and  other  islands  every  season  when  the  ships  came  np.  As  they 
lived  then,  it  was  a  physical  impossibility  for  them  to  increase  and  multiply;  but,  since  their  elevation  and  their 
sanitary  advancement  are  so  marked,  it  may  be  reasonably  expected  that  those  people  for  all  time  to  come  will  at  least 
hold  their  own,  even  though  they  do  not  increase  to  any  remarkable  degree.  Perhaps  it  is  better  that  they  should 
not.  But  it  is  exceedingly  fortunate  that  they  do  sustain  themselves  so  as  to  be,  as  it  were,  a  prosperous  corj>orate 

,  factor,  entitled  to  the  exclusive  privilege  of  labor  on  these  islands.  As  an  encouragement  for  their  good  behavior 
the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  in  pursuance  of  its  enlightened  treatment  of  the  whole  subject,  so  handsomely 
exhibited  by  its  housing  of  these  people,  has  assured  them  that  so  long  as  they  are  capable  and  willing  to  perform 
the  labor  of  skinning  the  seal  catch  every  year,  so  long  will  they  enjoy  the  sole  privilege  of  participating  in  that 
toil  and  jts  reward.  This  is  wise  on  the  part  of  the  company,  and  it  is  exceedingly  happy  for  the  people.  They 
are,  of  all  men,  especially  fitted  for  the  work  connected  with  the  seal-business — no  comment  is  needed — nothing 
better  in  the  way  of  manual  labor,  skilled  and  rapid,  could  be  rendered  by  any  body  of  men,  equal  in  numbers, 
living  under  the  same  circumstances,  all  the  year  round.  They  appear  to  i-hake  oft'  the  periodic  lethargy  of  winter 
and  its  forced  inanition,  to  rush  with  the  coming  of  summer  into  ihe  severe  exercise  and  duty  of  capturing,  killing, 
and  skinning  the  seals,  with  vigor  and  with  persistent  and  commendable  energy. 

To  day  ouly  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  population  are  descendants  of  the  pioneers  who  were  brought  here 
by  the  several  Russian  companies,  in  1787  and  1788 ;  a  colony  of  137  souls,  it  is  claimed,  principally  recruited  at 
Ooualashka  and  Atkha.  I  have  placed  in  the  appendix,  together  with  other  scattered  notes,  a  list  of  these  people 
who  were  living  on  St.  Paul  island  in  August,  1873 ;  also  showing  at  the  same  time  those  who  were  living  there  iu 
1870.  It  is  a  simple  record,  perhaps  of  no  interest  to  anybody  except  those  who  are  intimately  associated  with  the 
Islam's.  (See  note,  39,  F.) 

ORIGIN  AND  TRAITS  OF  THE  ALEUTS. — The  question  as  to  the  derivation  of  these  natives  is  still  a  mooted  one 
among  ethnologists,  for  in  all  points  of  personal  bearing,  intelligence,  character,  as  well  as  physical  structure,  they 
seem  to  form  a  perfect  link  of  gradation  between  the  Japanese  and  Eskimos,  although  their  traditions  and  their 
language  are  entirely  distinct  and  peculiar  to  themselves ;  not  one  «vord  or  numeral  of  their  nomenclature  resembles 
the  dialect  of  either.  They  claim,  however,  to  have  come  first  to  the  Aleutian  islands  from  a  "big  laud  to  the 
westward'',  and  that  when  they  came  there  first  they  found  the  land  uninhabited,  and  that  they  did  not  meet  with 
any  people,  until  their  ancestors  had  pushed  on  to  the  eastward  as  far  as  the  peninsula  and  Kadiak.  Confirmatory 
of  this  legend,  or  rather  highly  suggestive  of  it,  is  the  fact  that  repeated  instances  have  occurred  within  our  day 
where  Japanese  junks  have  been,  iu  the  stress  of  hurricanes  and  typhoons,  dismantled,  and  have  drifted  clear  over 
and  on  to  the  reefs  and  coasts  of  the  Aleutian  islands.  Only  a  short  time  ago,  in  the  summer  of  1871,  such  a  craft 
was  so  stranded,  helpless  and  at  the  mercy  of  the  sea,  upon  the  rocky  coast  of  Adak  island,  in  this  chain ;  the  few 
surviving  sailors,  Japanese,  five  in  number,  were,  I  remember,  rescued  by  a  party  of  Aleutian  sea-otter  hunters, 
who  took  care  of  them  until  the  vessel  of  a  trader  carried  them  back,  by  way  of  Ooualashka,  to  San  Francisco,  and 
from  thence  they  returned  to  their  native  land. 

The  Aleuts  on  the  islands,  as  they  appear  to-day,  have  been  so  mixed  up  with  Russian,  Koloshian,  and 
Kaiuschadale  blood,  that  they  present  characteristics,  in  one  way  or  another,  of  all  the  various  races  of  men,  from 
the  negro  up  to  the  Caucasian.  The  predominant  features  among  them  are  small,  wide-set  eyes,  broad  and  high 
cheek-bones,  causing  the  jaw,  which  is  full  and  square,  to  often  appear  peaked ;  coarse,  straight,  black  hair,  small, 
neatly  shaped  feet  and  hands,  together  with  brownish-yellow  complexion.  The  men  will  average  in  stature  five 
feet  four  or  five  inches;  the  women  less  iu  proportion,  although  there  arc  exceptions  to  this  rule  among  them, 
some  being  over  six  feet  iu  height,  and  others  are  decided  dwarfs.  The  manners  and  customs  of  these  people  to-day 
possess  nothing  in  themselves  of  a  barbarous  or  remarkable  character,  aside  from  that  which  belongs  to  an  advanced 
state  of  semi  civilization.  They  are  exceedingly  polite  and  civil,  not  only  in  their  business  with  the  agents  of  the 
company  on  the  seal-islands,  but  among  themselves;  and  they  visit,  the  one  with  the  other,  freely  and  pleasantly, 
the  women  being  great  gossips.  But,  on  the  whole,  their  intercourse  is  subdued,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the 
topics  of  conversation  are  few.  and,  judging  from  their  silent  but  unconstrained  meetings,  they  seem  to  have  a 
mutual  knowledge,  as  if  by  sympathy,  as  to  what  may  be  occupying  each  other's  minds,  rendering  speech  superfluous. 
It  is  only  when  under  the  influence  of  beer  or  strong  liquor,  that  they  lose  their  naturally  quiet  and  amiable 
disposition  :  they  then  relapse  into  low,  drunken  orgies  and  loud,  brawling  noises.  Having  beeu  so  long  under  the 
control  and  influence  of  the  Russians,  they  have  adopted  many  Sclavic  customs,  such  as  giving  birthday-dinners, 
naming  their  children,  etc.;  they  are  remarkably  attached  to  their  church,  and  no  other  form  of  religion  could  be 
better  adapted  or  have  a  firmer  hold  upon  the  sensibilities  of  the  people.  Their  inherent  chastity  and  sobriety 
cannot  be  commended.  They  have  long  since  thrown  away  the  uncouth  garments  of  the  Russian  rule — the  shaggy 
dog  skin  caps,  with  coats  half  seal  and  half  sea  lion — for  a  complete  outfit,  cap-a-nii',  such  as  our  own  people  buy  in 
any  furnishing  house;  the  same  boots,  socks,  underclothing,  and  clothing,  with  ulsters  and  nlsterettes;  but  the 
violence  of  the  wind  prevents  their  selecting  the  hats  of  our  haut  Ion  and  sporting  fraternity.  As  for  the  women,  they 
too  have  kept  pace  and  even  advanced  to  the  level  of  the  men,  for  iu  these  lower  races  there  is  much  more  vanity 
displayed  by  the  masculine  element  than  the  feminine,  according  to  my  observation;  in  other  words,  I  have  noticed 


22  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

a  greater  desire  among  the  young  men  than  among  the  young  women  of  savage  and  semi  civilized  people  to  be 
gaily  dressed,  and  to  look  fine.  But  the  visits  of  the  wives  of  our  treasury  officials  and  the  company's  agents  to 
these  islands,  during  the  last  ten  years,  bringing  with  them  a  full  outfit,  as  ladies  always  do,  of  everything  under 
the  sun  that  women  want  to  wear,  has  given  the  native  female  mind  an  undue  expansion  up  there,  anti  stimulated 
it  to  unwonted  activity.  They  watch  the  cut  of  the  garments,  and  borrow  the  patterns;  and  some  of  them  are 
very  expert  dress-makers  to  day.  When  the  Eussians  controlled  affairs  the  women  were  the  hewers  of  the  drift-wood 
and  the  drawers  of  the  water.  At  St.  Paul  there  was  no  well  of  drinking-fluid  about  the  village,  nor  withiu 
half  a  mile  of  the  village;  there  was  no  drinking-water  unless  it  was  caught  in  cisterns,  and  the  cistern-water, 
owing  to  the  particles  of  seal-fat  soot  which  fall  upon  the  roofs  of  the  houses,  is  rendered  undrinkable;  so  that  the 
supply  for  the  town,  until  quite  recently,  used  to  be  carried  by  the  women  from  two  little  lakes  at  the  head  of  the 
lagoon,  a  mile  and  a  half,  as  the  crow  flies,  from  the  village,  and  right  under  Telegraph  hill.  This  is  quite  a  journey, 
and  when  it  is  remembered  that  they  drink  so  much  tea,  and  that  water  has  to  go  with  it,  some  idea  of  the  labor 
of  the  old  and  young  females  can  be  derived  from  an  inspection  of  the  map.  Latterly,  within  the  last  four  or  five 
years,  the  company  have  opened  a  spring  less  than  half  a  mile  from  the  "  gorode",  which  they  have  plumbed  and 
regulated,  so  that  it  supplies  them  with  water  now,  and  renders  the  labor  next  to  nothing,  compared  with  the 
former  difficulty.  But  to  day,  when  water  is  wanted  in  the  Aleutian  houses  at  St.  Paul,  the  man  has  to  get  it,  the 
woman  does  not ;  he  trudges  out  with  a  little  wooden  firkin  or  tub  on  his  back,  and  brings  it  to  the  house. 

Some  of  the  natives  save  their  money;  but  there  are  very  few  among  them,  perhaps  not  more  than  a  dozen, 
who  have  the  slightest  economical  tendency.  What  they  cannot  spend  for  luxuries,  groceries,  and  tobacco,  they 
manage  to  get  away  with  at  the  gaming-table.  They  have  their  misers  and  their  spendthrifts,  and  they  have  the 
usual  small  proportion  who  know  how  to  make  money  and  then  how  to  spend  it.  A  few  among  them  who  are  in 
the  habit  of  saving,  have  opened  a  regular  bank-account  with  the  company;  some  of  them  have  to-day  two  or  three 
thousand  dollars  saved,  drawing  an  interest  of  9  per  cent. 

When  the  ships  arrive  and  go,  the  great  and  necessary  labor  of  lightering  their  cargoes  off'  and  on  from  the 
roadsteads  where  they  anchor,  is  principally  performed  by  these  people,  and  they  are  paid  so  much  a  day  for  their 
labor,  from  50  cents  to  $t,  according  to  the  character  of  the  service  they  render;  this  operation,  however,  is 
much  dreaded  by  the  ship-captains  and  sea-going  men,  whose  habits  of  discipline  and  automatic  regularity  and 
effect  of  working  render  them  severe  critics  and  impatient  coadjutors  of  the  natives,  who,  to  tell  the  truth,  hate  to 
do  anything  after  they  have  pocketed  their  reward  for  sealing;  and  when  they  do  labor  after  this,  they  regard  it  as 
an  act  of  very  great  condescension  on  their  part. 

As  they  are  living  to-day  up  there,  there  is  no  restraint,  such  as  the  presence  of  policemen,  courts  of  justice, 
fines,  etc.,  which  we  employ  for  the  suppression  of  disorder  and  maintenance  of  the  law  in  our  own  land.  They 
understand  that  if  it  is  necessary  to  make  them  law-abiding,  and  to  punish  crime,  that  such  officers  will  be  among 
them;  and  hence,  perhaps,  is  due  the  fact  that,  from  the  time  that  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  has  taken 
charge,  in  1870,  there  has  not  been  one  single  occasion  where  the  simplest  functions  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  would 
or  could  have  been  called  in  to  settle  any  difficulty.  This  speaks  eloquently  for  their  docile  nature  and  their  amiable 
disposition. 

FOOD. — Seal-meat  is  their  -staple  food,  and  in  the  village  of  St.  Paul  they  consume  on  an  average  fully  500 
pounds  a  day  the  year  round ;  and  they  are,  by  the  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  allowed  every  fall 
to  kill  5,000  or  6,000  seal-pups,  or  an  average  of  22  to  30  young  "kotickie"  for  each  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the 
settlements.  The  paps  will  dress  10  pounds  each.  This  shows  an  average  consumption  of  nearly  COO  pounds  of 
seal  meat  by  each  person,  large  and  small,  during  the  year.  To  this  diet  the  natives  add  a  great  deal  of  butter  and 
many  sweet  crackers.  They  are  passionately  fond  of  butter — no  epicure  at  home,  or  butter-taster  in  Goshen,  knows 
or  appreciates  that  article  better  than  these  people  do.  If  they  could  get  all  that  they  desire,  they  would  consume 
1,000  pounds  of  butter  and  500  pounds  of  sweet  crackers  every  week,  and  indefinite  quantities  of  sugar — the 
sweetest  of  all  sweet  teeth  are  found  in  the  jaw  of  the  average  Aleut.  But  it  is  of  course  unwise  to  allow  them  full 
swing  in  this  matter,  for  they  would  turn  their  stomachs  into  fermenting  tanks  if  they  had  full  access  to  an 
unlimited  supply  of  saccharine  food.  The  company  allows  them  200  pounds  a  week.  If  unable  to  get  sweet 
crackers  they  will  eat  about  300  pounds  of  hard  or  pilot  bread  every  week,  and  in  addition  to  this  nearly  700 
pounds  of  flour  at  the  same  time.  Of  tobacco  they  are  allowed  50  pounds  per  week ;  candles,  75  pounds ;  rice,  50 
pounds.  They  burn,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  kerosene  oil  here  to  the  exclusion  of  the  seal-fat,  which  literally 
overruns  the  island.  They  ignite  and  consume  over  GOO  gallons  of  kerosene  oil  a  year  in  the  village  of  St.  Paul 
alone.  They  do  not  fancy  vinegar  very  much — perhaps  50  gallons  a  year  is  used  up  there.  Mustard  and  pepper 
are  sparingly  used,  one  to  one  and  a  half  pounds  a  week  for  the  whole  village ;  beans  they  peremptorily  reject — for 
some  reason  or  other  they  cannot  be  induced  to  use  them.  Those  who  go  about  the  vessels  contract  a  taste  lor 
split-pea  soup,  and  a  few  of  them  are  sold  in  the  village-store.  Salt  meat,  beef  or  pork,  they  will  take  reluctantly, 
if  it  is  given  to  and  pressed  upon  them,  but  they  will  never  buy  it.  I  remember,  in  this  connection,  seeing  two 
barrels  of  prime  salt  pork  and  a  barrel  of  prime  mess  salt  beef  opened  in  the  company's  store,  shortly  after  my 
arrival  in  1872,  and,  though  the  people  of  the  village  were  invited  to  help  themselves,  I  think  I  am  right  in  saving 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  23 

that  the  barrels  were  not  emptied  when  I  left  the  island  in  1873.  They  use  a  very  little  coffee  during  the  year — 
not  more  than  100  pounds — but  of  tea  a  great  deal.  I  do  not  know  exactly — I  cannot  find  among  my  notes  a 
record  as  to  this  article — but  I  can  saY,  that  they  do  not  drink  less  than  a  gallon  of  tea  apiece  per  diem.  The 
amount  of  this  beverage  which  they  sip,  from  the  time  they  rise  in  the  morning  until  they  go  to  bed  late  at  night,  is 
astounding.  Their  "samovars",  and,  latterly,  the  regular  tea-kettles  of  our  American  make,  are  bubbling  and 
boiling  from  the  moment  the  housewife  stirs  herself  at  daybreak  until  the  fire  goes  out  when  they  sleep.  It  should 
be  stated  in  this  counpction,  that  they  are  supplied  with  a  regular  allowance  of  coal  every  year  by  the  company, 
gratix.  each  family  being  entitled  to  a  certain  amount,  which  alone,  if  economically  used,  keeps  them  warm  all 
winter  in  their  new  houses ;  but,  for  those  who  are  extravagant  and  are  itching  to  spend  their  extra  wages,  an  extra 
supply  is  always  kept  in  the  storehouses  of  the  company  for  sale.  Their  appreciation  of  and  desire  to  possess  all 
the  canned  fruit  that  is  landed  from  the  steamer,  is  marked  to  a  great  degree.  If  they  had  the  opportunity.  I 
doubt  whether  a  single  family  on  that  island  today  would  hesitate  to  bankrupt  itself  in  purchasing  this  commodity. 
Potatoes  they  sometimes  demand,  as  well  as  onions,  and  perhaps  if  these  vegetables  could  be  brought  here  and 
kept  to  an  advantage,  the  people  would  soon  become  very  fond  of  them.  (See  note,  39,  G.) 

OCCUPATION. — The  question  is  naturally  asked:  How  do  these  people  employ  themselves  during  the  long 
nine  months  of  every  year  after  the  close  of  the  sealing  season  and  until  it  begins  again,  when  they  have  little  or 
absolutely  nothing  to  do?  It  may  be  answered,  that  they  -simply  vegetate;  or,  in  other  words,  are  entirely  idle, 
mentally  and  physically,  during  most  of  this  period.  But  to  their  credit,  let  it  be  said,  that  mischief  does  not 
employ  their  idle  hands;  they  are  passive  killers  of  time,  drinking  tea  and  sleeping,  with  a  few  disagreeable 
exceptions,  such  as  the  gammers.  There  are  a  half-dozen  of  these  characters  at  St.  Paul,  and  perhaps  as  many  at 
St.  George,  who  pass  whole  nights  at  their  sittings,  even  during  the  sealing  season,  playing  games  of  cards,  taught 
by  Russians  and  persons  who  have  been  on  the  island  since  the  transfer  of  the  territory ;  but  the  majority  of  the 
men,  women,  and  children,  not  being  compelled  to  exert  theaiselves  to  obtain  any  of  the  chief,  or  even  the  least,  of 
the  necessaries  of  life,  such  as  tea  and  hard  bread,  sleep  the  greater  portion  of  the  time,  when  not  busy  in  eating, 
and  in  the  daily  observances  of  the  routine  belonging  to  the  Greek  Catholic  church.  The  teachings,  pomp,  and 
circumstance  of  the  religious  observances  of  this  faith  alone  preserve  these  people  from  absolute  stagnation.  In 
obedience  to  its  teachings  they  gladly  attend  church  very  regularly.  They  also  make  and  receive  calls  on  their 
saints'  days,  and  these  days  are  very  numerous.  I  think  some  290  of  the  whole  year's  calendar  must  be  given  up 
to  the  ceremonies  attendant  upon  the  celebration  of  some  holy  man's  or  woman's  birth  or  death. 

In  early  times  the  same  disgraceful  beer-drinking  orgies  which  prevailed  to  so  great  an  extent,  and  still  cause  so 
much  misery  and  confusion  seen  elsewhere  in  the  territory,  prevailed  here,  and  I  remember  very  well  the  difficulty 
which  I  had  in  initiating  the  first  steps  taken  by  the  Treasury  Department  to  suppress  this  abominable  nuisance. 
During  the  last  four  or  five  years,  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  say,  since  the  new  order  of  things  was  inaugurated,  the 
present  agents  of  the  department  have  faithfully  executed  the  law. 

The  natives  add  to  these  entertainments  of  their  saints'  day  and  birth  festivals,  or  "  Emannimiks  ",  the  music 
of  accordeons  and  violins ;  upon  the  former  and  its  variation,  the  concertina,  they  play  a  number  of  airs,  and  are 
very  fond  of  the  noise.  A  great  mau^  of  the  women,  in  particular,  can  render  indifferently  a  limited  selection  of 
tunes,  many  of  which  are  the  old  battle-songs,  so  popular  during  the  Rebellion,  woven  into  weird  Eussian  waltzes 
and  love  ditties,  which  they  have  jointly  gathered  from  their  former  masters  and  our  soldiers,  who  were  quartered 
here  in  1869.  From  the  Russians  and  the  troops,  also,  they  have  learned  to  dance  various  figures,  and  have 
been  taught  to  waltz.  These  dances,  however,  the  old  folks  do  not  enjoy  very  much.  They  will  come  in  and  sit 
around  and  look  at  the  young  performers  with  stolid  indifference ;  but,  if  they  manage  to  get  a  strong  current  of 
tea  setting  in  their  direction,  nicely  sugared  and  toned  up,  they  revive  and  join  in  the  mirth.  In  old  times  they 
never  danced  here  unless  they  were  drunk,  and  it  was  the  principal  occupation  of  the  amiable  and  mischievous 
treasury  agents,  and  others,  in  the  early  days  to  open  up  this  beery  fun.  Happily,  that  nuisance  is  abated. 

As  an  illustration  of  their  working  ability  on  the  seal-grounds,  I  offer  the  following  table,  which  shows  the 
actual  time  occupied  by  them  m  finishing  up  the  three  seasons'  work  which  I  personally  supervised: 

On  St.  Paul  island: 

In  1872,  50  days'  work  of  71  men  secured  75,000  seal-skins. 

In  1873,  40  days'  work  of  71  men  secured  75.000  seal-skins. 

in  1874,  39  days'  work  of  84  men  secured  90,000  seal  skins. 

This  exhibit  plainly  presents  the  increased  ability  and  consequent  celerity  of  action  among  the  natives,  and 
furnishes  also  at  the  same  time  abundant  proof  of  the  statement  which  I  make,  of  the  full  and  undiminished  supply 
of  killable  seals,  or  "holluschickie",  from  year  to  year. 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  ALASKA  COMMERCIAL  COMPANY. — Before  leaving  the  consideration  of  these  people, 
who  are  so  intimately  associated  with  and  blended  into  the  business  on  these  islands,  it  may  be  well  to  clearly  define 
the  relation  existing  between  them,  the  government,  and  the  company  leasing  the  islands.  When  Congress  granted 
to  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  of  San  Francisco  the  exclusive  right  of  taking  a  certain  number  of  fur  seals 
every  year,  for  a  period  of  twenty  years  on  these  islands,  it  did  so  with  several  reservations  and  conditions,  which  were 


24  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

confided  in  their  detail  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  This  officer  and  the  president  of  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company  agreed  upon  a  code  of  regulations  which  should  govern  their  joint  action  in  regard  to  the  natives.  It  was 
a  simple  agreement  that  these  people  should  have  a  certain  amount  of  dried  salmon  furnished  them  for  food  every 
year,  a  certain  amount  of  fuel,  a  school-house,  and  the  right  to  go  to  and  come  from  the  islands  as  they  chose;  and 
also  the  right  to  work  or  not,  understanding  that  in  case  they  did  not  work,  their  places  would  and  could  be 
supplied  by  other  people  who  would  work. 

The  company,  however,  has  gone  far  beyond  this  exaction  of  the  government;  it  lias  added  the  inexpressible 
boon  of  comfort,  in  the  formation  of  the  dwellings  now  occupied  by  the  natives,  which  was  not  expressed  nor 
thought  of  at  the  time  of  the  granting  of  the  lease.  An  enlightened  business-policy  suggested  to  the  company,  that, 
it  would  be  much  better  for  the  natives,  and  much  better  for  the  company  too,  if  these  people  were  taken  out  of 
their  filthy,  unwholesome  hovels,  put  into  habitable  dwellings,  and  taught  to  live  cleanly,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  by  so  doing  the  natives,  living  in  this  improved  condition,  would  be  able  physically  and  mentally,  every  season 
when  the  sealing  work  began,  to  come  out  from  their  long  inanition  and  go  to  work  at  once  with  vigor  and  energetic 
persistency.  The  sequel  has  proved  the  wisdom  of  the  company. 

Before  this  action  on  their  part,  it  was  physically  impossible  for  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Paul  or  St.  George  islands 
to  take  the  lawful  quota  of  100,000  seal-skins  annually  in  less  than  three  or  four  working  months.  They  take 
them  in  less  than  thirty  working  days  now  with  the  same  number  of  men.  What  is  the  gain?  Simply  this,  and  it 
is  everything:  The  fur-seal  skin,  from  the  14th  of  June,  when  it  first  arrives,  as  a  rule,  up  to  the  1st  of  August,  is  in 
prime  condition;  from  that  latter  date  until  the  middle  of  October  it  is  rapidly  deteriorating,  to  slowly  appreciate 
again  in  value  as  it  sheds  and  renews  its  coat;  so  much  so  that  it  is  practically  worthless  in  the  markets  of  the 
world.  Hence,  the  catch  taken  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  every  year  is  a  prime  one,  first  to  last—  there 
are  no  low-grade  "stagey"  skins  in  it;  but  under  the  old  regimen,  three-fourths  of  the  skins  were  taken  in  August, 
in  September,  and  even  in  October,  and  were  not  worth  their  transportation  to  London.  Comment  on  this  is 
unnecessary;  it  is  the  contrast  made  between  a  prescient  business-policy,  and  one  that  was  as  shiftless  and 
improvident  as  language  can  well  devise. 

SCHOOLS  AND  CHURCHES.  —  The  company  found  so  much  difficulty  in  getting  the  youth  of  the  villages  to 
attend  their  schools,  taught  by  our  own  people,  especially  brought  up  there  and  hired  by  the  company,  that  they 
have  adopted  the  plan  of  bringing  one  or  two  of  the  brightest  boys  down  every  year  and  putting  them  into  our 
chools,  so  that  they  may  grow  up  here  and  be  educated,  in  order  to  return  and  serve  as  teachers  there.  This  policy 
is  warranted  by  the  success  attending  the  experiment  made  at  the  time  when  I  was  up  there  first,  whereby  a.  son  of  the 
chief  was  carried  down  and  over  to  Rutland,  Vermont,  for  his  education,  remained  there  four  years,  then  returned  and 
took  charge  of  the  school  on  St.  Paul,  which  he  has  had  ever  since,  with  the  happiest  results  in  increased  attendance 
and  attention  from  the  children.  But,  of  course,  so  long  as  the  Russian  church  service  is  conducted  in  the  Russian 
language,  we  will  find  on  the  islands  more  Russian-speaking  people  than  our  own.  The  non-attendance  at  school 
was  not  and  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  indisposition  on  the  part  of  the  children  and  parents.  One  of  the  oldest  and 
most  intelligent  of  the  natives  told  uie,  explanatory  of  their  feeling  and  consequent  action,  that  he  did  not,  nor  did 
his  neighbors,  have  any  objection  to  the  attendance  of  their  children  on  our  English  school  ;  but,  if  their  boys  and 
men  neglected  their  Russian  lessons,  they  knew  not  who  were  going  to  take  their  places,  when  they  died,  in 
his  church,  at  the  christenings,  and  at  their  burial?  To  any  one  familiar  with  the  teachings  of  the  Greek-Catholic 
faith,  the  objection  of  old  Philip  Volkov  seems  reasonable.  1  hope,  therefore,  that,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  Russian 
church  service  may  be  voiced  in  English  ;  not  that  I  want  to  substitute  any  other  religion  for  it  —  far  from  it  ;  in  my 
opinion  it  is  the  best  one  we  could  have  for  these  people  —  but  until  this  substitution  of  our  language  for  the  Russian 
is  done,  no  very  satisfactory  work,  in  my  opinion,  will  be  accomplished  in  the  way  of  an  English  education  on  the 
seal-islands. 

The  fact  that  among  all  the  savage  races  found  on  the  northwest  coast  by  Christian  pioneers  and  teachers,  the 
Aleutians  are  the  only  practical  converts  to  Christianity,  goes  far,  in  my  opinion,  to  set  them  apart  as  very  differently 
constituted  in  mind  and  disposition  from  our  Indians  and  our  Eskimos  of  Alaska.  To  the  latter,  however,  they 
seem  to  be  intimately  allied,  though  they  do  not  mingle  in  the  slightest  degree.  They  adopted  the  Christian  faith 
with  very  little  opposition,  readily  exchanging  their  barbarous  customs  and  wild  superstitious  for  the  rites  of  the 
Greek-Catholic  church  and  its  more  refined  myths  and  legends. 

At  the  time  of  their  first  discovery,  they  were  living  as  savages  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  bold  and  hardy, 
throughout  the  Aleutian  chain,  but  now  they  respond,  on  these  islands,  to  all  outward  signs  of  Christianity,  as 
sincerely  as  our  own  church-going  people. 

Q.  THE  ALASKA  COMMERCIAL  COMPANT. 

OCCUPATION  OF  THE  ISLANDS  BY  AMERICANS  IN  1868.  —  The  Alaska  Commercial  Company  deserves  and  will 
receive  a  brief  but  comprehensive  notice  at  this  point.  In  order  that  we  may  follow  it  to  these  islands,  and  clearly 
and  correctly  appreciate  the  circumstances  which  gave  it  footing  and  finally  the  control  of  the  business,  I  will  pass 
back  and  review  the  chain  of  evidence  adduced  in  this  direction  from  the  time  of  our  first  occupation,  in  18C7,  of 
the  territory  of  Alaska. 


yfe 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  25 

It  will  be  remembered  by  many  people,  that  when  we  were  ratifying  the  negotiation  between  our  government 
and  that  of  Russia,  it  was  made  painfully  apparent  that  nobody  in  this  country  knew  anything  about  the  subject  of 
Russian  America.  Every  schoolboy  knew  where  it  was  located,  but  no  professor  or  merchant,  however  wise  or 
shrewd,  knew  what  was  in  it.  Accordingly,  immediately  after  the  purchase  was  made  and  the  formal  transfer 
effected,  a  large  number  of  energetic  and  speculative  men,  some  coming  from  Xew  England  even,  but  most  of  them 
residents  of  the  Pacific  coast,  turned  their  attention  to  Alaska*  They  went  up  to  Sitka  in  a  little  fleet  of  sail-  and 
steam-vessels,  but  among  their  number  it  appears  there  were  only  two  of  our  citizens  who  knew  of  or  had  the 
faintest  appreciation  as  to  the  value  of  the  seal-islands.  One  of  these,  Mr.  H.  M.  Hutchinson,  a  native  of  Xe\v 
Hampshire,  and  the  other  a  Captain  Ebenezer  Morgan,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  turned  their  faces  in  1868  toward 
them.  Mr.  Hutchinson  gathered  his  information  at  Sitka — Captain  Morgan  had  gained  his  years  before  by 
experience  on  the  South  Sea  sealing  grounds.  Mr.  Hutchiuson  represented  a  company  of  San  Francisco  or  California 
capitalists  when  he  lauded  on  St.  Paul ;  Captain  Morgan  represented  another  company  of  New  London  capitalists  and 
whaling  merchants.  They  arrived  almost  simultaneously,  Morgan  a  few  days  or  weeks  anterior  to  Hutchinson.  He 
had  quietly  enough  commenced  to  survey  and  preempt  the  rookeries  on  the  islands,  or,  in  other  words,  the  work  of 
putting  stakes  down  and  recording  the  fact  of  claiming  the  ground,  as  miners  do  in  the  mountains ;  but  later  agreed 
to  cooperate  with  Mr.  Hutchinson.  These  two  parties  passed  that  season  of  1868  in  exclusive  control  of  those 
islands,  and  they  took  an  immense  number  of  seals.  They  took  so  many  that  it  occurred  to  Mr.  Hutchiuson 
unless  something  was  done  to  check  and  protect  these  wonderful  rookeries,  which  he  saw  here  for  the  tirst  time, 
and  which  filled  him  with  amazement,  that  they  would  be  wiped  out  by  the  end  of  another  season  ;  although  he 
was  the  gainer  then,  and  would  be  perhaps  at  the  end,  if  they  should  be  thus  eliminated,  yet  he  could  not  forbear 
saying  to  himself  that  it  was  wrong  and  should  not  be.  To  this  Captain  Morgan  also  assented. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  ALASKA  COMMERCIAL,  COMPANY. — In  the  fall  of  1868  Mr.  Hutchison  and  Captain 
Morgan,  by  their  personal  efforts,  interested  and  aroused  the  Treasury  Department  and  Congress,  so  that  a  special 
resolution  was  enacted  declaring  the  seal-islands  a  governmental  reservation,  and  prohibiting  any  and  all  parties 
from  taking  seals  thereon  until  further  action  by  Congress.  In  1869,  seals  were  taken  on  those  islands,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Treasury  Department,  for  the  subsistence  of  the  natives  only ;  and  in  1870  Congress  passed  the 
present  law,  a  copy  of  which  I  append,  for  the  protection  of  the  fur-bearing  animals  on  those  islands,  and  under  its 
provisions,  and  in  accordance  therewith,  after  an  animated  and  bitter  struggle  in  competition,  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company,  of  which  Mr.  Hutchinson  was  a  prime  organizer,  secured  the  award  and  received  the  franchise  which  it 
now  enjoys  and  will  enjoy  for  another  decade.  The  company  is  an  American  corporation,  with  a  charter,  rules,  and 
regulations,  which  I  reproduce  in  the  appendix  to  this  memoir.  They  employ  a  fleet  of  vessels,  sail  and  steam:  four 
steamers,  a  dozen  or  fifteen  ships,  barks,  and  sloops.  Their  principal  occupation  and  attention  is  given  naturally  to 
the  seal  islands,  though  they  have  stations  scattered  over  the  Aleutian  islands  and  that  portion  of  Alaska  west  and 
north  of  Kadiak.  Xo  post  of  theirs  is  less  than  500  or  600  miles  from  Sitka. 

Outside  of  the  seal-islands  all  trade  in  this  territory  of  Alaska  is  entirely  open  to  the  public.  There  is  no  need 
of  protecting  the  fur-bearing  animals  elsewhere,  unless  it  may  be  by  a  few  wholesome  general  restrictions  in  regard 
to  the  sea-otter  chase.  The  country  itself  protects  the  animals  on  the  mainland  and  other  islands  by  its  rugged, 
forbidding,  and  inhospitable  exterior. 

The  treasury  officials  on  the  seal-islands  are  charged  with  the  careful  observance  of  every  act  of  the  company; 
a  copy  of  the  lease  and  its  covenant  is  conspicuously  posted  in  their  office ;  is  translated  into  Russian,  and  is 
'  familiar  to  all  the  natives.  The  company  directs  its  own  labor,  in  accordance  with  the  law,  as  it  sees  fit;  selects  its 
time  of  working,  etc.  The  natives  themselves  work  under  the  direction  of  their  own  chosen  foremen,  or  "toyone". 
These  chiefs  call  out  the  men  at  the  break  of  every  working-day,  divide  them  into  detachments  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  service,  and  order  their  doing.  All  communication  with  the  laborers  on  the  sea  ling- ground  and 
the  company  passes  through  their  hands;  these  chiefs  having  every  day  an  understanding  with  the  agent  of  the 
company  as  to  his  wishes,  and  they  govern  themselves  thereby. 

BUSINESS  METHODS. — The  company  pays  40  cents  for  the  labor  of  taking  each  skin.  The  natives  take  the  skins 
on  the  ground;  each  man  tallying  his  work  and  giving  the  result  at  the  close  of  the  day  to  his  chief  or  foreman. 
When  the  skins  are  brought  up  and  counted  into  the  salt-houses,  where  the  agent  of  the  company  receives  them 
from  the  hands  of  the  natives,  the  two  tallies  usually  correspond  very  closely,  if  they  are  not  entirely  alike.  When  the 
quota  of  skins  is  taken,  at  the  close  of  two,  three,  or  four  weeks  of  labor,  as  the  case  may  be,  the  total  sum  for 
the  entire  catch  is  paid  over  in  a  him])  to  the  chiefs,  and  these  men  divide  it  among  the  laborers  according  to  their 
standing  as  workmen,  which  they  themselves  have  exhibited  on  their  special  tally -sticks.  For  instance,  at  the 
annual  divisions,  or  "catch"  settlement,  made  by  the  natives  on  St.  Paul  island  among  themselves,  hi  1872.  when 
I  was  present,  the  proceeds  of  their  work  for  that  season  in  taking  and  skinning  75,000  seals,  at  40  cents  per  skin, 
with  extra  work  connected  with  it,  making  the  sum  of  $30,637  37,  was  divided  among  them  in  this  way:  There 
were  74  shares  made  up,  representing  74  men,  though  in  fact  only  56  men  worked,  but  they  wished  to  give  a 
certain  proportion  to  their  church,  a  certain  proportion  to  their  priest,  and  a  certain  proportion  to  their  widows;  so 
they  water  their  stock,  commercially  speaking.  The  74  shares  were  proportioned  as  follows: 


26  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

37  first-class  shares,  at |451  22  each. 

23  second-class  shares,  at 406  08  each. 

4  third-class  shares,  at 360  97  ejch. 

10  fourth-class  shares,  at 315  85  each. 

These  shares  do  not  represent  more  than  56  able-bodied  men. 

In  August,  1873,  while  on  St.  George  island,  I  was  present  at  a  similar  division,  under  similar  circumstances, 
which  caused  them  to  divide  among  themselves  the  proceeds  of  their  work  in  taking  and  skinning  25,000  seals,  at 
40  cents  a  skin,  $10,000.  They  made  the  following  subdivision: 

Per  share. 
17  shares  each,  961  skins $384  40 

2  shares  each,  935  skins 374  00 

3  shares  each,  821  skins 328  40 

1  share  each,  820  shins 328  00 

3  shares  each,  770  skins 308  00 

3  shares  each,  400  skins 160  00 

These  29  shares  referred  to  stated  represent  only  25  able-bodied  men  ;  two  of  them  were  women.  This  method  of 
division  as  above  given,  is  the  result  of  their  own  choice.  It  is  an  impossible  thing  for  the  company  to  decide  their 
relative  merits  as  workmen  on  the  ground,  so  they  have  wisely  turned  its  entire  discussion  over  to  them.  Whatever 
they  do  they  must  agree  to — whatever  the  company  might  do  they  possibly  and  probably  would  never  clearly 
understand,  and  hence  dissatisfaction  and  suspicion  would  inevitably  arise;  as  it  is,  the  whole  subject  is  most 
satisfactorily  settled. 

7.  THE  BUSINESS  CONCERNED. 

THE  METHODS  OF  THE  ALASKA  COMMERCIAL  COMPANY. — Living  as  the  seal  islanders  do,  and  doing  what 
they  do,  the  seal's  life  is  naturally  their  great  study  and  objective  point.  It  nourishes  and  sustains  them. 
Without  it  they  say  they  could  not  live,  and  they  tell  the  truth.  Hence,  their  attention  to  the  few  simple 
requirements  of  the  law,  so  wise  in  its  provisions,  is  not  forced  or  constrained,  but  is  continuous.  Self-interest 
in  this  respect  appeals  to  them  keenly  and  eloquently.  They  know  everything  that  is  done  and  everything  that  is 
said  by  anybody  and  by  everybody  in  their  little  community.  Every  seal-drive  that  is  made,  and  every  skin  that 
is  taken,  is  recorded  and  accounted  for  by  them  to  their  chiefs  and  their  church,  when  they  make  up  their  tithiug- 
roll  at  the  close  of  each  day's  labor.  Nothing  can  come  to  the  islands,  by  day  or  by  night,  without  being  seen  by 
them  and  spoken  of.  I  regard  the  presence  of  these  people  on  the  islands  at  the  transfer,  and  their  subsequent 
retention  and  entail ment  in  connection  with  the  seal-business,  as  an  exceedingly  good  piece  of  fortune,  alike 
advantageous  to  the  government,  to  the  company,  and  to  themselves. 

It  will  be  remembered  that,  at  the  time  the  question  of  leasing  the  islands  was  before  Congress,  much  opposition 
to  the  proposal  was  made,  on  several  grounds,  by  two  classes,  one  of  which  argued  against  a  "monopoly",  the  other 
urging  that  the  government  itself  would  realize  more  by  taking  the  whole  management  of  the  business  into  its  own 
hands.  At  that  time  far  away  from  Washington,  in  the  Eocky  mountains,  I  do  not  know  what  arguments  were 
used  in  the  committee-rooms,  or  who  made  them ;  but  since  my  careful  and  prolonged  study  of  the  subject  on  the 
ground  itself,  and  of  the  trade  and  its  conditions,  I  am  now  satisfied  that  the  act  of  June,  1870,  directing  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  lease  the  seal-is'ands  of  Alaska  to  the  highest  bidder,  under  the  existing  conditions  and 
qualifications,  did  the  best  and  the  only  correct  and  profitable  thing  that  could  have  been  done  in  the  matter,  both 
with  regard  to  the  preservation  of  the  seal-life  in  its  original  integrity,  and  the  pecuniary  advantage  of  the  treasury 
itself.  To  make  this  statement  perfectly  clear,  the  following  facts,  by  way  of  illustration,  should  be  presented: 

First.  When  the  government  took  possession  of  these  interests,  in  1808  mid  1869,  the  gross  value  of  a  seal-skin 
laid  down  in  the  best  market,  at  London,  was  less  in  some  instances,  and  in  others  but  slightly  above  the  present 
tax  and  royalty  paid  upon  it  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company. 

Second.  Through  the  action  of  the  intelligent  business-men  who  took  the  contract  from  the  government,  in 
stimulating  and  encouraging  the  dressers  of  the  raw  material,  and  in  taking  sedulous  care  that  nothing  but  good 
skins  should  leave  the  islands,  and  in  combination  with  leaders  of  fashion  abroad,  the  demand  for  the  fur,  by  this 
manipulation  and  management,  has  been  wonderfully  increased. 

Third.  As  matters  now  stand,  the  greatest  and  best  interests  of  the  lessees  are  identical  with  those  of  tho 
government;  what  injures  one  instantly  injures  the  other.  In  other  words,  both  strive  to  guard  against  anything 
that  shall  interfere  with  the  preservation  of  the  seal-life  in  its  original  integrity,  and  both  having  it  to  their  interest, 
if  possible,  to  increase  that  life;  if  the  lessees  had  it  in  their  power,  which  they  certainly  have  not,  to  ruin 
these  interests  by  a  few  seasons  of  rapacity,  they  are  so  bonded  and  so  environed  that  prudence  prevents  it. 

Fourth.  The  frequent  changes  iu  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  has  very  properly  the  absolute 
control  of  the  business  as  it  stands,  do  not  permit  upon  his  part  that  close,  careful  scrutiny  which  is  exercised  by 
the  lessees,  who,  unlike  him,  have  but  their  one  purpose  to  carry  out.  The  character  ot  the  leading  men  among 
them  is  enough  to  assure  the  public  that  the  business  is  in  responsible  hands,  and  in  the  care  of  persons  who  will 
use  every  effort  for  its  preservation  and  jts  perpetuation,  as  it  is  so  plainly  their  best  end  to  serve.  Another  great 
obstacle  to  the  success  of  the  business,  if  controlled  entirely  by  the  government,  would  be  encountered  in  disposing 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  27 

of  the  skins  after  they  had  been  brought  down  from  the  islands.  It  would  not  do  to  sell  them,  up  there  to  the  highest 
bidder,  since  that  would  license  the  sailing  of  a  thousand  ships  to  be  present  at  the  sale.  The  rattling  of  their 
anchor-chains,  and  the  scraping  of  their  keels  on  the  beaches  of  the  two  little  islands,  would  alone  drive  every  seal 
away  and  over  to  the  liussian  grounds  in  a  remarkably  short  space  of  time.  The  government  would  therefore 
need  to  offer  them  :it  public  auction  in  this  country,  and  it  would  be  simply  history  repeating  itself — the  government 
would  be  at  the  mercy  of  any  well-organized  combination  of  buyers.  The  agents  conducting  the  sale  could  not 
counteract  the  effect  of  such  a  combination  as  can  the  agents  of  a  private  corporation,  who  may  look  after  their 
interest  in  all  the  markets  of  the  world  in  their  own  time  and  in  their  own  way,  according  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
season  and  the  demand,  and  who  are  supplied  with  money  which  they  can  use,  \vithout  public  scandal,  in  the 
manipulation  of  the  market.  On  this  ground  I  feel  confident  in  stating,  that  the  treasury  of  the  United  States 
receives  more  money,  net,  under  the  system  now  in  operation,  than  it  would  by  taking  the  exclusive  control  of  the 
business.  Were  any  capable  government  officer  supplied  with,  say,  $100,000,  to  expend  in  "working  the  market", 
and  intrusted  with  the  disposal  of  100,000  seal-skins  wherever  he  could  do  so  to  the  best  advantage  of  the 
government,  and  were  this  agent  a  man  of  first-class  business  ability  and  energy,  1  think  it  quite  likely  that  the 
same  success  might  attend  his  labor  in  the  London  market  that  distinguishes  the  management  of  the  Alaska 
Commercial  Company.  But  imagine  the  cry  of  fraud  and  embezzlement  that  would  be  raised  against  him,  however 
honest  he  might  be!  This  alone  would  bring  the  whole  business  into  positive  disrepute,  and  make  it  a  national 
scandal.  As  matters  are  now  conducted,  there  is  no  room  for  any  scandal — not  one  single  transaction  on  the 
islands  but  what  is  as  clear  to  iuvestigatiou  and  accountability  as  the  light  of  the  noon-day  sun ;  what  is  done  is 
known  to  everybody,  and  the  tax  now  laid  by  the  government  upon,  and  paid  into  the  treasury  every  year  by  the 
Alaska  Commercial  Company,  yields  alone  a  handsome  rate  of  interest  on  the  entire  purchase-money  expended  for 
the  ownership  of  all  Alaska. 

It  is  frequently  urged  with  great  persistency,  by  misinformed  or  malicious  authority,  that  the  lessees  can  and  do 
take  thousands  of  skius  in  excess  of  the  law,  and  this  catch  in  excess  is  shipped  sub  rosa  to  Japan  from  the  Pribylov 
islands.  To  show  the  folly  of  such  a  move  on  the  part  of  the  company,  if  even  it  were  possible,  I  will  briefly 
recapitulate  the  conditions  under  which  the  skins  are  taken.  The  natives  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  do  themselves, 
in  the  manner  I  have  indicated,  all  the  driving  and  skinning  of  the  seals  for  the  company.  Xo  others  are 
permitted  or  asked  to  land  upon  the  islands  to  do  this  work,  so  long  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands  are  equal 
to  it.  They  have  been  equal  to  it  and  they  are  more  than  equal  to  it.  Every  skin  taken  by  the  natives  is  counted 
by  themselves,  as  they  get  40  cents  per  pelt  for  that  labor ;  and  at  the  expiration  of  each  day's  work  in  the  field, 
the  natives  know  exactly  how  many  skins  have  been  taken  by  them,  how  many  of  these  skins  have  been  rejected 
by  the  company's  agent  because  they  were  carelessly  cut  and  damaged  in  skinning — usually  about  three-fourths 
of  one  per  cent,  of  the  whole  catch — and  they  have  it  recorded  every  evening  by  those  among  them  who  are  charged 
M  ith  the  duty.  Thus,  were  101,000  skins  taken,  instead  of  100,000  allowed  by  law,  the  natives  would  know  it  as 
quickly  as  it  was  done,  and  they  would,  on  the  strength  of  their  record  and  their  tally,  demand  the  lull  amount  of 
their  compensation  for  the  extra  labor;  and  were  any  ship  to  approach  the  islands,  at  any  hour,  these  people  would 
know  it  at  once,  and  would  be  aware  of  any  shipment  of  skins  that  might  be  attempted.  It  would  then  be  the 
common  talk  among  the  398  inhabitants  of  the  two  islands,  and  it  would  be  a  matter  of  record,  open  to  any  person 
who  might  come  upon  the  ground  charged  with  investigation.  (See  note,  39,  L.) 

Furthermore,  these  natives  are  constantly  going  to  and  from  Oonalashka,  visiting  their  relations  in  the  Aleutian 
settlements,  hunting  for  wives,  etc.  On  the  mainland  they  have  intimate  intercourse  with  bitter  enemies  of  the 
company,  with  whom  they  would  not  hesitate  to  talk  over  the  whole  state  of  affairs  on  the  islands,  as  they  always  do; 
lor  they  know  nothing  else  and  think  of  nothing  else  and  dream  of  nothing  else.  Therefore,  should  anything  be 
done  contrary  to  the  law,  the  act  could  and  would  be  reported  by  these  people.  The  government,  on  its  part, 
through  its  four  agents  stationed  on  these  islands,  counts  these  skius  into  the  ship,  and  one  of  their  number  goes 
down  to  San  Francisco  upon  her.  There  the  collector  of  the  port  details  experts  of  his  own,  who  again  count  them 
all  ont  of  the  hold,  and  upon  that  record  the  tax  is  paid  and  the  certificate  signed  by  the  government. 

It  will,  therefore,  at  once  be  seen,  by  examining  the  state  of  affairs  on  the  islands,  and  the  conditions  upon 
which  the  lease  is  granted,  that  the  most  scrupulous  care  in  fulfilling  the  terms  of  the  contract  is  compassed,  and 
that  this  strict  fulfillment  is  the  most  profitable  course  for  the  lessees  to  pursue;  and  that  it  would  be  downright 
folly  in  them  to  deviate  from  the  letter  of  the  law,  and  thus  lay  themselves  open  at  any  day  to  discovery,  the  loss  of 
their  contract,  aud  forfeiture  of  their  bonds.  Their  action  can  be  investigated  at  any  time,  any  moment*,  by  Con- 
gress; of  which  they  are  fully  aware.  They  cannot  bribe  these  398  people  on  the  islands  to  secrecy,  any  more  suc- 
cessfully than  they  could  conceal  their  action  from  them  on  the  sealing  fields ;  aud  any  man  of  average  ability  could 
go,  and  can  go,  among  these  natives  and  inform  himself  as  to  the  most  minute  details  of  the  catch,  from  the  time  the 
lease  was  granted  up  to  the  present  hour,  should  he  have  reason  to  suspect  the  honesty  of  the  treasury  agents.  The 
road  to  and  from  the  islands  is  not  a  difficult  one,  though  it  is  traveled  only  once  a  year. 

The  subject  of  the  method  and  direction  of  the  business  of  sealing  on  these  islands,  involving  as  it  does  a 
discussion  of  the  law  aud  the  actiou  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  and  the  natives  combined,  will  form  a 
thesis  for  another  chapter. 


28  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

E.  THE  SEAL-LIFE  ON  THE  PEIBYLOV  ISLANDS. 

8.  THE  HAIR-SEAL. 

ENUMERATION  OP  THE  VARIOUS  SPECIES  OF  SEALS.— The  history  of  the  fur-seal,  the  one  overshadowing  and 
superlatively  interesting  subject  of  this  discussion,  I  shall  present  in  all  its  multitudinous  details,  even  at  the  risk 
of  being  thought  ted'ous.  The  aggregate  of  animal  life  shadowed  every  summer  out  upon  the  breeding  grounds  of 
the  seal-islands  is  so  vast,  so  anomalous,  so  interesting,  and  so  valuable,  that  it  deserves  the  fullest  mention;  and 
even  wheu  1  shall  have  done,  it  will  be  but  feebly  expressed. 

The  seal-life  on  the  Pribylov  islands  maybe  classified  under  the  following  heads,  namely:  (1)  The  fur-seal, 
Callorhinm  ursinus,  the  "kautickie"  of  the  Russians;  (2)  the  sea-lion,  Eumetopias  Stelleri,  the  "seevitchie"  of  the 
Eussiaus;  (3)  the  hair  seal,  Plioca  vitulina,  the  "uearhpahsky"  of  the  Russians;  (4)  the  walrus,  Odobwnus  obesus,  the 
"morsjee"  of  the  Russians. 

THE  HAiit-SEAL. — The  above  short  schedule  embraces  the  titles  of  all  the  pinnipeds  found  in,  on,  and  around  the 
island  group.  Of  this  list  the  hair-seal  is  the  animal  which  has  done  so  much  to  found  that  erroneous,  popular,  and 
scientific  opinion  as  to  what  a  iur-seal  appears  like.  Phoca  vitulina  has.  in  this  manner,  given  to  ihe  people  of  the 
world  a  false  idea  of  its  relatives.  It  is.so  commonly  distributed  all  over  the  littoral  salt  waters  of  the  earth,  seen 
in  the  harbors  of  nearly  every  marine  port,  or  basking  along  the  loneliest  and  least  inhabited  of  desolate  coasts  far 
to  the  north,  that  everybody  has  noticed  it,  if  not  iu  life,  then  in  its  stuffed  skins  at  the  museums,  sometimes 
very  grotesquely  stutted.  This  copy,  set  everywhere  before  the  eye  of  the  uaturalist,  has  rendered  it  so  difficult 
for  him  to  correctly  discriminate  between  the  Phocidcc  and  the  Otariida;,  that  the  synonymy  of  the  Pinnipedia  bas 
been  expanded  until  it  is  replete  with  meaningless  description  and  surmise. 

Although  the  hair-seal  belongs  to  the  great  group  of  pinnipeds,  yet  it  does  uot  have  even  a  generic  affinity  with 
those  seals  with  which  it  has  been  so  persistently  grouped,  namely,  the  fur  seal  aud  tbe  sea-liou.  It  no  more 
resembles  them,  than  does  the  raccoon  the  black  or  grizzly  bear. 

I  shall  not  enter  into  a  detailed  description  of  this  seal ;  it  is  wholly  superfluous,  for  excellent,  and,  I  believe, 
trustworthy  accounts  have  been  repeatedly  published  by  writers*  who  have  treated  of  the  subject  as  it  was  spread 
before  their  eyes  on  the  coasts  of  Labrador,  Newfoundland,  and  Greenland;  to  say  nothing  of  the  researches  and 
notes  made  by  European  scientists.  It  differs  completely  in  shape  aud  habit  from  its  congeners  on  these  islands. 
Here,  where  I  have  studied  its  biology,  it  seldom  comes  up  Irom  the  water  more  than  a  few  rods  at  the  farthest; 
generally  hauling  aud  resting  at  the  margin  of  the  surf-wash.  It  takes  up  no  position  on  land  to  hold  and  protect 
a  family  or  harem,  preferring  the  detached  water-worn  rocks,  especially  those  on  the  lonely  north  shore  of  St.  Paul, 
although  I  have  seen  it  resting  at  "Gorbotch",  near  the  sea-margin  of  the  great  seal-rookery  of  that  name,  on  the 
Reef  point  of  St.  Paul;  its  cylindrical,  supine,  gray  and  white  body  marked  iu  strong  contrast  with  the  erect,  black 
and  ocher-colored  forms  of  the  Cullorhinus,  which  swarmed  around  about  it.  On  such  small  spots  of  rock,  wet 
and  isolated  from  the  mainland,  and  iu  secluded  places  on  the  north  s.hore,  the  "Nearhpah"  brings  forth  its  young, 
a  single  pup,  perfectly  white,  covered  with  long  woolly  hair,  and  weighing  from  3  to  7  pounds.  This  pup  grows 
rapidly,  and  after  the  lapse  of  four  or  five  months  it  tips  the  scales  at  50  pounds ;  by  that  time  it  has  shed  its  infant 
coat  and  donned  the  adult  soft  steel-gray  hair  over  the  head,  limbs,  and  abdomen,  with  the  back  most  richly  mottled 
and  barred  lengthwise,  by  dark  brown  and  brown-black  streaks  and  blotches,  suffused  at  their  edges  into  the  light 
steel-gray  ground  of  the  body.  When  they  appear  in  the  spring  following,  this  bright  gray  tone  to  their  color  has 
ripened  into  a  dingy  ocher,  and  the  mottling  spread  well  over  the  head  and  down  on  the  upper  side  or  back  of  the 
flippers,  but  fades  out  as  it  progresses.  It  has  no  appreciable  fur  or  under- wool.  There  is  no  noteworthy  difference 
as  to  color  or  size  between  the  sexes.  So  far  as  I  have  observed,  they  are  not  polygamous.  They  are  exceedingly 
timid  and  wary  at  all  times,  and  in  this  manner  and  method  they  are  diametrically  opposed,  not  by  shape  alone,  but 
by  habit  and  disposition,  to  the  fashion  of  the  fur-seal  in  especial,  and  the  sea-lion.  Their  skin  is  of  little  value, 
comparatively,  but  their  chief  merit,  according  to  the  natives,  is  the  relative  greater  juiciness  and  sweetness  of 
their  flesh,  over  even  the  best  steaks  of  sea-lion  or  fur-seal  pup  meat. 

One  common  point  of  agreement  among  all  authors  was,  by  my  observations  of  fact,  so  strikingly  refuted,  that 
I  will  here  correct  a  prevalent  error  made  by  naturalists  who,  comparing  the  hair-seal  with  the  fur-seal,  state  that 
in  consequence  of  the  peculiar  structure  of  their  limbs,  their  progression  on  land  is  "  mainly  accomplished  by  a 
wriggling,  serpentine  motion  of  the  body,  slightly  assisted  by  the  extremities".  This  is  not  so  iu  any  respect;  for 
whenever  I  have  purposely  surprised  these  animals,  a  few  rods  from  the  beach-margin,  they  would  awake  aud 
excitedly  scramble,  or  rather  spasmodically  exert  themselves,  to  reach  the  water  instantly,  by  striking  out  quickly 
with  both  fore-feet  simultaneously,  lifting  iu  this  way  alone,  and  dragging  the  whole  body  forward,  without  any 
"  wriggling  motion"  whatever  to  their  back  or  posterior  parts,  moving  from  six  inches  to  a  foot  in  advance  every 
time  their  fore-feet  were  projected  forward,  and  the  body  drawn  along  according  to  the  violence  of  the  effort  and 
the  character  of  the  ground;  the  body  of  the  seal  then  falls  flat  upon  its  stomach,  and  the  fore-feet  or  flippers  are 


*A  vory  complete  resume  has  been  given  by  Allen,  Hint.  North  American  Pinniped*,  1880. 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  29 

free  again  for  another  similar  motion.  This  action  of  Phoca  is  effected  so  continuously  aud  so  rapidly,  that  in 
attempting  to  head  off  a  young  "Xearhpah"  from  the  water,  at  English  bay,  I  was  obliged  to  leave  a  brisk  walk 
and  take  to  a  dog  trot  to  do  it.  The  hind-feet  are  not  used  when  exerted  in  this  rapid  movement  at  all;  they  are 
dragged  along  in  the  wake  of  the  body,  perfectly  limp  and  motionless.  But  they  do  use  those  posterior  parts, 
however,  when  leisurely  climbing  up  and  over  rocks  undisturbed,  or  playing  one  with  another;  still  it  is  always  a 
weak,  trembling  terrestrial  effort,  and  particularly  impotent  and  clumsy.  In  their  swift  swimming  the  hind-feet 
of  Pltocidfc  evidently  do  all  the  work ;  the  reverse  is  the  characteristic  of  the  Otariidce. 

These  remarks  of  mine,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind,  apply  directly  to  Phoca  vilulina,  and  I  presume  indirectly 
with  equal  force  to  all  the  rest  of  its  more  important  generic  kindred,  be  they  as  large  as  Phoca  barbata  or  less. 

This  hair-seal  is  found  around  these  islands  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  but  in  very  small  numbers.  I  have  never 
seen  more  than  twenty-five  or  thirty  at  any  one  time,  and  I  am  told  that  its  occidental  distribution,  although 
everywhere  found,  above  and  below,  from  the  arctic  to  the  tropics,  and  especially  general  over  the  Xoith  Pacific 
coast,  nowhere  exhibits  any  great  number  at  any  one  place;  but  we  know  that  it  and  its  immediate  kindred 
form  a  vast  majority  of  the  multitudinous  seal-life  peculiar  to  our  Xorth  Atlantic  shores,  ice  floes,  and  contiguous 
waters.  The  scarcity  of  this  species,  and  of  all  its  generic  allies,  in  the  waters  of  the  Pacific,  is  notable  as  compared 
with  those  of  the  circumpolar  Atlantic,  where  these  hair-seals  are  the  seals  of  commerce,  and  are  found  in  such 
immense  numbers  between  Greenland  and  Labrador,  and  thence  to  the  eastward  at  certain  seasons*  of  every  year, 
that  employment  is  given  to  a  fleet  of  about  sixty  sailing  and  steam  vessels,  which  annually  go  forth  t  from  St.  John, 
Newfoundland,  and  elsewhere,  fitted  for  seal-fishing,  taking  in  all  their  voyages  over  300,000  of  these  animals  each 
season  ;  the  principal  object  of  value,  however,  is  the  oil  rendered  from  them,  the  skins  having  very  small  commercial 
importance,  f  Touching  oil,  etc.,  a  business  digest  of  this  subject,  as  it  refers  to  the  seal-islands  of  Alaska,  will  be 
found  in  this  memoir,  in  that  portion  descriptive  of  the  methods  employed  by  working  the  hanling-grouuds  of  the 
"holluschickie". 

9.  LIFE-HISTORY  OF  THE  FUR-SEAL. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  AN  ADULT  MALE. — The  fur-seal,  Callorhinug  vrsinns,  which  repairs  to  these  islands  to 
breed  and  to  shed  its  hair  and  fur,  in  numbers  that  seem  almost  fabulous,  is  the  highest  organized  of  all  the 
Pinniperlia.  and.  indeed,  for  that  matter,  when  land  and  water  are  weighed  in  the  account  together,  there  is  no  other 
animal  known  to  man  which  can  be  truly,  as  it  is,  classed  superior,  from  a  purely  physical  point  of  view.  Certainly 
there  are  few,  if  any,  creatures  in  the  auimaJ^kingdoni  that  can  be  said  to  exhibit  a  higher  order  of  instinct, 
approaching  even  our  intelligence. 

I  wish  to  draw  attention  to  a  specimen  of  the  finest  of  this  race — a  male  in  the  flush  and  prime  of  his  first 
maturity,  six  or  seven  years  oM,  and  full  grown.  When  it  comes  up  from  the  sea  early  in  the  spring,  out  to  its  station 
for  the  breeding  season,  we  have  an  animal  before  us  that  will  measure  Gi  to  7J  feet  in  length  from  tip  of  nose  to 
the  end  of  its  abbreviated,  abortive  tail.  It  will  weigh  at  least  400  pounds,  and  I  have  seen  older  specimens  much 
more  corpulent,  which,  in  my  best  judgment,  could  not  be  less  than  600  pounds  in  weight.  The  head  of  tlrs 
animal  now  before  us,  appears  to  be  disproportionately  small  in  comparison  with  the  immensely  thick  neck  and 
shoulders;  but,  as  we  come  to  examine  it  we  will  find  it  is  mostly  all  occupied  by  the  brain.  The  light  frame-work 
of  the  skull  supports  an  expressive  pair  of  large  bluish  haze'  eyes;  alternately  burning  with  revengeful,  passionate 
light,,  then  suddenly  changing  to  the  tones  of  tenderness  and  good  nature.  It  has  a  muzzle  and  jaws  of  about  the 
same  size  and  form  observed  in  any  full-blooded  Newfoundland  dog,  with  this  difference,  that  the  lips  are  not 
flabby  and  overhanging ;  they  are  as  firmly  lined  and  pressed  against  one  another  as  our  own.  The  upper  lips 
support  a  yellowish  white  and  gray  moustache,  composed  of  long,  stiff  bristles,  and  when  it  is  not  torn  out  and 
broken  off  in  combat,  it  sweeps  down  and  over  the  shoulders  as  a  luxuriant  plume.  Look  at  it  as  it  comes 
leisurely  swimming  on  toward  the  land  :  see  how  high  above  the  water.it  carries  its  head,  and  how  deliberately  it 
surveys  the  beach,  after  having  stepped  upon  it  (for  it  may  be  truly  said  to  step  with  its  fore-flippers,  as  they 
regularly  alternate  when  it  moves  up),  carrying  the  head  well  above  them,  erect  and  graceful,  at  least  three  feet 

*  March  and  April.  t  Sailing  on  the  10th  of  March,  simultaneously:  the  Canadian  law  prohibits  earlier  work  in  this  respect. 

}  Au  excellent,  and,  as  far  as  I  kuow,  a  correct  description  of  this  seal-fishery  in  the  North  Atlantic  has  been  published  by  Michael 
Carroll,  in  his  Stal  and  Herring  Fisheries  of  Xcicfoiuidland.  This  gentleman  writes  in  a  manner  indicative  of  much  familiarity  with  the 
business,  though  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  his  observations  were  not  more  systematized  aud  concentrated.  Mr.  Carroll,  when  he 
published  his  work  in  1^7:?,  had  enjoyed  a  personal  experience  of  over  fifty  years  in  the  hair-seal  hunting  of  the  North  Atlantic,  and  this 
report  is,  therefore,  perhaps  the  best  exposition  of  the  habit  and  condition  of  those  1'hocidce  that  is  extant;  at  least  I  should  judge  i-o. 
Robert  Brown,  in  lisic  (Proc.  Ziml.  Sjn-ieiy,  London,  pp.  413-416),  gives  a  graphic  sketch  of  the  life  of  the  Greenland  hair-seal,  while 
Ludwig  Kumk-in,  iu  "Bulletin  No.  15"  of  the  United  States  National  Museum,  1879,  presents  altogether  the  most  interesting  and  valuable 
biology  of  the  hair-seals  in  the  waters  of  Cumberland  sound  that  has  as  yet  been  printed.  Allen,  iu  his  History  of  tlie  Xorth  American 
Pinnipeds,  1»'60.  has,  with  painstaking  labor,  carefully  compiled  the  pertinent  remarks  of  a  whole  army  of  lesser  authorities  upon  the 
doing  and  well-being  of  the  Plioctdtf,  and  has  arranged  them  in  his  memoir  so  that  they  appear  to  the  best  advantage.  Carroll's  report 
is  exceedingly  interesting,  and  conld  he  be  induced  to  rewrite  his  notes.  >yst<-niatising  them,  or  permit  some  naturalist  to  do  so  who  might 
draw  out  from  him  information  on  important  points,  now  hidden,  the  result  undoubtedly  would  accrue  greatly  to  the  benefit  of  all 
concerned,  and  cause  him  to  reap  a  fitting  recognition  of  his  knowledge  of  the  subject,  which  seems  to  be  very  full  and  exhaustive,  us  lar 
as  expressed  by  himself. 


30  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

fi-om  the  ground.  The  fore  feet,  or  flippers,  are  a  pair  of  dark  bluish-black  hands,  about  S'or  10  inches  broad  at 
their  junction  with  the  body,  and  the  metacarpal  joint,  running  out  to  an  ovate  point  at  their  extremity,  some  15 
to  18  inches  from  this  union;  all  the  rest  of  the  forearm,  the  ulna,  radius,  and  humerus  being  concealed  under  the 
skin  and  thick  blubber-folds  of  the  main  body  and  neck,  hidden  entirely  at  this  season,  when  it  is  so  fat.  But  six 
weeks  to  three  mouths  after  this  time  of  landing,  when  that  superfluous  fat  and  flesh  has  been  consumed  by  self- 
absorption,  those  bones  show  plainly  under  the  shrunken  skin.  Ou  the  upper  side  of  these  flippers  the  hair  of  the 
body  straggles  down  finer  and  fainter  as  it  comes  below  to  a  point  close  by,  and  slightly  beyond  that  spot  of  junction 
where  the  phalanges  and  the  metacarpal  bones  unite,  similar  to  that  point  on  our  own  hand  where  our  knuckles  are 
placed ;  and  here  the  hair  ends,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  skin  to  the  end  of  the  flipper  bare  and  wrinkled  in  places  at 
the  margin  of  the  inner  side;  showing,  also,  fine  small  pits,  containing  abortive  nails,  which  are  situated  immediately 
over  the  union  of  the  phalanges  with  their  cartilaginous  continuations  to  the  end  of  the  flipper. 

On  the  under  side  of  the  flipper  the  skin  is  entirely  bare,  from  its  outer  extremity  up  to  the  body  connection  ; 
it  is  sensibly  tougher  and  thicker  than  elsewhere  on  the  body  ;  it  is  deeply  and  regularly  wrinkled  with  seams  and 
furrows,  which  cross  one  another  so  HS  to  leave  a  kind  of  sharp  diamond-cut  pattern.  When  they  are  placed  by  the 
animal  upon  the  smoothest  rocks,  shining  and  slippery  from  algoid  growths  and  the  sea-polish  of  restless  waters, 
they  seldom  fail  to  adhere. 

When  we  observe  this  seal  moving  out  on  the  land,  we  notice  that,  though  it  handles  its  fore-feet  in  a  most 
creditable  manner,  it  brings  up  its  rear  in  quite  a  different  style;  for,  after  every  second  step  ahead  with  the 
anterior  limbs,  it  will  arch  its  spine,  and  in  arching,  it  drags  and  lifts  up,  and  together  forward,  the  hind-feet,  to 
a  fit  position  under  its  body,  giving  it  in  this  manner  fresh  leverage  for  another  movement  forward  by  the  fore- 
feet, in  which  the  spine  is  again  straightened  out,  and  then  a  fresh  hitch  is  taken  up  on  the  posteriors  once  more,  and 
so  on  as  the  seal  progresses.  This  is  the  leisurely  and  natural  movement  on  laud,  when  not  disturbed,  the  body  all 
the  time  being  carried  clear  of  and  never  touching  the  ground.  But  if  the  creature  is  frightened,  this  method  of 
progression  is  radically  changed.  It  launches  into  a  lope,  and  actually  gallops  so  fast  that  the  best  powers  of 
a  man  in  running  are  taxed  to  head  it  off.  Still,  it  must  be  remembered  that  it  cannot  run  far  before  it  sinks 
trembling,  gasping,  breathless,  to  the  earth ;  thirty  or  forty  yards  of  such  speed  marks  the  utmost  limit  of  its 
endurance. 

The  radical  difference  in  the  form  and  action  of  the  hind-feet  cannot  fail  to  strike  the  eye  at  once  ;  they  are 
one-seventh  longer  than  the  fore-hands,  and  very  much  lighter  and  more  slender ;  they  resemble,  in  broad  terms,  a 
pair  of  black  kid  gloves,  flattened  out  and  shriveled,  as  they  lie  in^Aieir  bo\. 

There  is  no  suggestion  of  fingers  on  the  fore-hands;  but  the  hind-Tret  seem  to  be  toes  run  into  ribbons,  for  they 
literally  flap  about  involuntarily  from  that  point,  where  the  cartilaginous  processes  unite  with  the  plialaugeal  bones. 
The  hind-feet  are  also  merged  in  the  body  at  their  junction  with  it,. like  those  anterior  ;  nothing  can  be  seen  of  the 
leg  above  the  tarsal  joint. 

The  shape  of  the  hind-flipper  is  strikingly  like  that  of  a  human  foot,  provided  the  latter  were  drawn  out  to  a 
length  of  20  or  22  inches,  the  instep  flattened  down,  and  the  toes  run  out  into  thin,  membraneous,  oval-tipped  points, 
only  skin-thick,  leaving  three  strong,  cylindrical,  grayish,  horn-colored  nails,  half  an  inch  long  each,  back  six 
inches  from  these  skinny  toe-ends,  without  any  sign  of  nails  to  mention  on  the  outer  big  and  little  toes. 

On  the  upper  side  of  this  hind-foot  the  body-hair  comes  down  to  that  point  where  the  metatarsus  and  phalangeal 
bones  join  and  fade  out.  From  this  junction  the  phalanges,  about  six  inches  down  to  the  nails  above  mentioned, 
are  entirely  bare,  and  stand  ribbed  up  in  bold  relief  on  the  membrane  which  unites  them,  as  the  web  to  a  duck's 
foot;  the  nails  just  referred  to  mark  the  ends  of  the  phalaugeal  bones,  and  their  union  in  turn  with  the 
cartilaginous  processes,  which  run  rapidly  tapering  and  flattening  out  to  the  ends  of  the  thin  toe-points.  Now,  as 
we  are  looking  at  this  fur-seal's  motion  and  progression,  that  which  seems  most  odd,  is  the  gingerly  manner  (if  I 
may  be  allowed  to  use  the  expression)  in  which  it  carries  these  hind-flippers;  they  are  held  out  at  right  angles  from 
the  body  directly  opposite  the  pelvis,  the  toe-ends  or  flaps  slightly  waving,  curled,  and  drooping  over,  supported 
daintily,  as  it  were,  above  the  earth,  the  animal  only  suffering  its  weight  behind  to  fall  upon  its  heels,  which  are 
themselves  opposed  to  each  other,  scarcely  five  inches  apart. 

We  shall,  as  we  see  tuis  seal  again  later  in  the  season,  have  to  notice  a  different  mode  of  progression  and 
bearing,  both  when  it  is  lording  over  its  harem,  or  when  it  grows  shy  and  restless  it  the  end  of  the  breeding  season, 
then  faint,  emaciated,  and  dejected;  but  we  will  now  proceed  to  observe  him  in  the  order  of  his  arrival  and  that  of 
his  family.  His  behavior  during  the  long  period  of  fasting  and  unceasing  activity  and  vigilance,  and  other  cares 
which  devolve  upon  him  as  the  most  eminent  of  all  polygamists  in  the  brute  world,  I  shall  carefully  relate;  and  to 
fully  comprehend  the  method  of  this  exceedingly  interesting  animal,  it  will  be  frequently  necessary  for  the  reader 
to  refer  to  my  sketch-maps  of  its  breeding-grounds  or  rookeries,  and  the  islands. 

ARRIVAL  AT  THE  SEAL- GROUNDS  :  COMING  IN  OF  THE  BULLS. — The  adult  males  are  the  first  examples  of 
the  Callorhinm  to  arrive  in  the  spring  on  the  seal-ground,  which  has  been  deserted  by  all  of  them  since  the  close 
of  the  preceding  year. 

Between  the  1st  and  5th  of  May,  usually,  a  few  males  will  be  found  scattered  over  the  rookeries,  pretty  close  to 
the  water.  They  are,  at  this  time,  quite  shy  and  sensitive,  seeming  not  yet  satisfied  with  the  land;  and  a  great  many 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  31 

spend  day  after  day  idly  swimming  out  among  the  breakers,  a  little  distance  from  the  shore,  before  they  come  to 
it,  perhaps  somewhat  reluctant  at  first  to  enter  upon  the  assiduous  duties  and  the  grave  responsibilities  before 
them  in  fighting  for  aud  maintaining  their  positions  in  the  rookeries. 

The  first  arrivals  are  not  always  the  oldest  bulls,  but  may  be  said  to  be  the  finest  and  most  ambitious  of  their 
class.  They  are  full  grown  and  able  to  hold  their  places  on  the  rookeries  or  the  breeding-flats,  which  they 
immediately  take  up  after  coming  ashore.  Their  method  of  landing  is  to  come  collectively  to  those  breeding- 
grounds  where  they  passed  the  prior  season;  but  I  am  not  able  to  say  authoritatively,  nor  do  I  believe  it,  strongly 
as  it  has  been  urged  by  many  careful  men  who  were  with  me  on  the  islands,  that  these  animals  come  back  to 
and  take  up  the  same  position  on  their  breeding-grounds  that  they  individually  occupied  when  there  last  year. 
From  my  knowledge  of  their  action  and  habit,  aud  from  what  I  have  learned  of  the  natives,  I  should  say  that 
very  few,  if  any,  of  them  make  such  a  selection  and  keep  these  places  year  after  year.  Even  did  the  seal 
itself  intend  to  come  directly  from  the  sea  to  that  spot  on  the  rookery  which  it  left  last  summer,  what  could  it  do 
if  it  came  to  that  rookery-margin  a  little  late,  and  found  that  another  "  see-catch  r  had  occupied  its  ground  !  The 
bull  could  do  nothing.  It  would  either  have  to  die  in  its  tracks,  if  it  persisted  in  attaining  this  supposed  objective 
point,  or  do  what  undoubtedly  it  does  do — seek  the  next  best  locality  which  it  can  attain  adjacent. 

One  old  "see-catch"  was  pointed  out  to  me  at  the  "Gorbatfh"  section  of  the  Eeef  rookery,  as  an  animal  that 
was  long  known  to  the  natives  as  a  regular  visitor,  close  by  or  on  the  same  rock,  every  season  during  the  past  three 
years.  They  called  him  "Old  John",  and  they  said  they  knew  him  because  he  had  one  of  his  posterior  digits 
missing,  bitten  off,  perhaps,  in  a  combat.  I  saw  him  in  1872,  and  made  careful  drawings  of  him  in  order  that  I 
might  recognize  his  individuality,  should  he  appear  again  in  the  following  year,  and  when  that  time  rolled  by  I 
found  him  not;  he  failed  to  reappear,  and  the  natives  acquiesced  in  his  absence.  Of  course  it  was  impossible  to 
say  that  he  was  dead,  when  there  were  10,000  rousing,  fighting  bulls  to  the  right,  left,  aud  below  us,  under  our 
eyes,  for  we  could  not  approach  for  inspection.  Still,  if  these  animals  came  each  to  a  certain  place  in  any 
general  fashion,  or  as  a  rule,  I  think  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  the  fact;  the  natives  certainly 
would  do  so;  as  it  is,  they  do  not.  I  think  it  very  likely,  however,  that  the  older  bulls  come  back  to  the  same 
common  rookery-ground  where  they  spent  the  previous  season;  but  they  are  obliged  to  take  up  their  position  on  it 
just  as  the  circumstances  attending  their  arrival  will  permit,  such  as  finding  other  seals  which  have  arrived 
before  them,  or  of  being  whipped  out  by  stronger  rivals  from  their  old  stands. 

It  is  entertaining  to  note,  in  this  connection,  that  the  Russians  themselves,  with  the  object  of  testing  this  mooted 
query,  during  the  later  years  of  their  po^essi^yj  the  islands,  drove  up  a  number  of  young  males  from  Lukaunon, 
cut  off  their  ears,  and  turned  them  out  to*puagaiu.  The  following  season,  when  the  droves  came  in  from  the 
'•hauliug-grounds"  to  the  slaughtering-fields.  ^flitt>  a  number  of  those  cropped  seals  were  in  the  drives,  but  instead 
of  being  found  all  at  one  place — the  place  fro:n  wlu^ice  they  were  driven  the  year  before — they  were  scattered 
examples  of  croppies  from  every  point  on  the  israud.  The  same  experiment  was  again  made  by  our  people  in 
1870  (the  natives  having  told  them  of  this  prior  undertaking),  and  they  went  also  to  Lukanuon,  drove  up  100 
young  males,  cut  off  their  left  ears,  and  set  them  free  in  turn.  Of  this  number,  during  the  summer  of  1872,  when  I 
was  there,  the  natives  found  in  their  driving  of  75.000  seals  from  the  different  hauling-grounds  of  St.  Paul  up  to  the 
village  killing-grounds,  two  on  Xovastoshnah  rookery,  10  miles  north  of  Lukauuon,  and  two  or  three  from  English 
bay  and  Tolstoi  rookeries,  6  miles  west  by  water;  one  or  two  were  taken  on  St.  George  island,  36  miles  to  the 
southeast,  and  not  one  from  Lukanuou  was  found  among  those  that  were  driven  from  there;  probably,  had  all 
the  young  males  on  the  two  islands  this  season  been  examined,  the  rest  of  the  croppies  that  had  returned 
from  the  perils  of  the  deep,  whence  they  sojourned  during  the  winter,  would  have  been  distributed  quite  equally 
about  the  Pribylov  hauling-grouuds.  Although  the  natives  say  that  they  think  the  cutting  off  of  the  animal's  ear 
gives  the  water  such  access  to  its  head  as  to  cause  its  death,  yet  I  noticed  that  those  examples  which  we  had 
recognized  by  this  auricular  mutilation,  were  normally  fat  and  well  developed.  Their  theory  does  not  appeal  to  my 
belief,  and  it  certainly  requires  confirmation. 

These  experiments  would  tend  to  prove  very  cogently  and  conclusively,  that  when  the  seals  approach  the  islands 
in  the  spring,  they  have  nothing  in  their  minds  but  a  general  instinctive  appreciation  of  the  fitness  of  the  land,  as 
a  whole :  and  no  special  fondness  or  determination  to  select  any  one  particular  spot,  not  even  the  place  of  their  birth. 
A  study  of  my  map  of  the  distribution  of  the  seal-life  on  St.  Paul,  clearly  indicates  that  the  lauding  of  the  seals 
on  the  respective  rookeries  is  influenced  greatly  by  the  direction  of  the  wind  at  the  time  of  their  approach  to  the 
islands  in  the  spring  and  early  summer.  The  prevailing  airs,  blowing,  as  they  do  at  that  season,  from  the  north 
and  northwest,  carry  far  out  to  sea  the  odor  of  the  old  rookery-flats,  together  with  the  fresh  scent  of  the  pioneer 
bulls  which  have  located  themselves  on  these  breeding-grounds,  three  or  four  weeks  in  advance  of  their  kind.  The 
seals  coire  up  from  the  great  X<  rth  Pacific,  and  hence  it  will  be  seen  that  the  rookeries  of  the  south  and 
southeastern  .shores  of  St.  Paul  island  receive  nearly  all  the  seal-life,  although  there  are  miles  ot  perfectly  eligible 
ground  at  Xahsayveruia,  or  north  shore.  To  settle  this  matter  beyond  all  argument,  however,  I  know  is  an 
exceedingly  difficult  task,  for  the  identification  of  individuals,  from  one  season  to  another,  among  the  hundreds  of 
thousands,  aud  eveu  millions,  that  come  under  the  eye  on  one  of  these  great  rookeries,  is  well  nigh  impossible. 


32  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

From  the  time  of  the  first  arrival  iu  May  up  to  the  beginning  of  Juneror  as  late  as  the  middle  of  that  month, 
if  the  weather  be  clear,  is  an  interval  in  which  everything  seems  quiet.  Very  few  seals  are  added  to  the  pioneers 
that  have  landed,  as  we  have  described.  By  the  1st  of  June,  however,  sometimes  a  little  before,  and  never  much 
later,  the  seal-weather — the  foggy,  humid,  oozy  damp  of  summer — sets  in ;  and  with  it,  as  the  gray  banks  roll  up 
and  shroud  the  islands,  the  bull-seals  swarm  from  the  depths  by  hundreds  and  thousands,  and  locate  themselves  in 
advantageous  positions  for  the  reception  of  the  females,  which  are  generally  three  weeks  or  a  month  later  than  this 
date  iu  arrival. 

PRE-EMPTION  OF  THE  ROOKERIES:  BATTLES  OF  THE  SEALS. — The  labor  of  locating  and  maintaining  a 
position  on  the  rookery  is  really  a  terribly  serious  business  for  these  bulls  which  come  in  last;  and  it  is  so  all  the 
time  to  those  males  that  occupy  the  water  line  of  the  breeding-grounds.  A  constantly-sustained  light  between  the 
newcomers  and  the  occupants  goes  on  morning,  noon,  and  night,  without  cessation,  frequently  resulting  iu  death 
to  one  or  even  both  of  the  combatants. 

It  appears,  from  my  survey  of  thi'se  breeding-grounds,  that  a  well-understood  principle  exists  among  the 
able-bodied  bulls,  to  wit:  that  each  one  shall  remain  undisturbed  on  his  ground,  which  is  usually  about  six  to 
eight  feet  square;  provided  that  at  the  start,  and  from  that  time  until  the  arrival  of  the  females,  he  is  strong 
enough  to  hold  this  ground  against  all  comers;  inasmuch  as  the  crowding  in  of  tue  fresh  arrivals  often  causes  the 
removal  of  those  which,  though  equally  able-bodied  at  first,  have  exhausted  themselves  by  fighting  earlier  and 
constantly ;  they  are  finally  driven  by  these  fresher  animals  back  farther  and  higher  up  on  the  rookery ;  and 
sometimes  off  altogether. 

Many  of  those  bulls  exhibit  wonderful  strength  and  desperate  courage.  I  marked  one  veteran  at  Gorbatch, 
who  was  the  first  to  take  up  his  position  early  in  May,  and  that  position,  as  usual,  directly  at  the  water-line.  This 
male  seal  had  fought  at  least  forty  or  fifty  desperate  battles,  and  fought  off  his  assailants  every  time — perhaps 
nearly  as  many  different  seals  which  coveted  his  position — and  when  the  fighting  season  was  over  (after  the  cows 
are  mostly  all  hauled  up),  I  saw  him  still  there,  covered  with  scars  and  frightfully  gashed ;  raw,  festering,  and 
bloody,  one  eye  gouged  out,  but  lording  it  bravely  over  his  harem  of  fifteen  or  twenty  females,  who  were  all 
huddled  together  on  the  same  spot  of  his  first  location  and  around  him. 

This  fighting  between  the  old  and  adult  males  (for  none  others  tight)  is  mostly,  or  rather  entirely,  done  with 
the  mouth.  The  opponents  seize  one  another  with  their  teeth,  and,  then  clenching  their  jaws,  nothing  but  the  sheer 
strength  of  the  one  and  the  other  tugging  to  escape  can  shake  them  loose,  and  that  effort  invariably  leaves  an  ugly 
wound,  the  sharp  canines  tearing  out  deep  gutters  in  the  skin  and  furrows  in  the  blubber,  or  shredding  the  flippers 
into  ribbon-strips. 

They  usually  approach  each  other  with  comically  averted  healfe,  just  as  though  they  were  ashamed  of  the 
rumpus  which  they  are  determined  to  precipitate.  When  they  get  near  enough  to  reach  one  another  they  enter 
upon  the  repetition  of  many  feints  or  passes,  before  either  one  or  the  other  takes  the  initiative  by  griping.  The 
heads  are  darted  out  and  back  as  quick  as  a  flash;  their  hoarse  roaring  and  shrill,  piping  whistle  never  ceases,  while 
their  fat  bodies  writhe  and  swell  with  exertion  and  rage ;  furious  lights  gleam  in  their  eyes ;  their  hair  flies  in  the 
air,  and  their  blood  streams  down ;  all  combined,  makes  a  picture  so  fierce  and  so  strange  that,  from  its  unexpected 
position  and  its  novelty,  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  brutal  contests  man  can  witness. 

In  these  battles  of  the  seals,  the  parties  are  always  distinct ;  the  one  is  offensive,  the  other  defensive.  If  the 
latter  proves  the  weaker  he  withdraws  from  the  position  occupied,  and  is  never  followed  by  his  conqueror,  who 
complacently  throws  up  one  of  his  hind-flippers,  fans  himself,  as  it  were,  to  cool  his  fevered  wrath  and  blood  from 
the  heat  of  the  conflict,  sinks  into  comparative  quiet,  only  uttering  a  peculiar  chuckle  of  satisfaction  or  contempt, 
with  a  sharp  eye  open  for  the  next  covetous  bull  or  "see  catch".* 

ATTITUDES  AND  COLORATION  OF  THE  EUR-SEALS. — The  period  occupied  by  the  males  iu  taking  and  holding 
their  positions  on  the  rookery,  offers  a  very  favorable  opportunity  to  s'udy  them  in  the  thousand  and  one  different 
attitudes  and  postures  assumed,  between  the  two  extremes  of  desperate  conflict  and  deep  sleep — sleep  so  protbinid 
that  one  can,  if  he  keeps  to  the  leeward,  approach  close  enough,  stepping  softly,  to  pull  the  whisker?  of  any  old 
male  taking  a  nap  on  a  clear  place ;  but  after  the  first  touch  to  th:-se  moustaches,  the  trifler  must  jump  with  electrical 
celerity  back,  if  he  has  any  regard  for  the  sharp  teeth  and  tremendous  shaking  which  will  surely  overtake  him  if 
he  does  not.  The  younger  seals  sleep  far  more  soundly  than  the  old  ones,  and  it  is  a  favorite  pastime  for  the 
natives  to  surprise  them  in  this  manner — favorite,  because  it  is  attended  with  no  personal  risk;  the  little  beasts, 
those  amphibious  sleepers,  rise  suddenly,  and  fairly  shrink  to  the  earth,  spitting  and  coughing  their  terror  and 
confusion. 

The  neck,  chest,  and  shoulders  of  a  fur-seal  bull  comprise  more  than  two-thirds  of  his  whole  weight;  and  in 
this  long,  thick  neck,  and  the  powerful  muscles  of  the  fore-limbs  and  shoulders,  is  embodied  the  larger  portion  of  his 
strength.  When  on  land,  with  the  fore-hands  he  does  all  climbing  over  the-  rocks  and  grassy  hummocks  back  of  the 
rookery,  or  shuffles  his  way  over  the  smooth  parades ;  the  hind-feet  being  gathered  up  as  useless  trappings 
after  every  second  step  forward,  which  we  have  described  at  the  outset  of  this  chapter.  These  anterior  flippers  are 

*  ''See-catch,"  native  name  for  the  hulls  cm  the  rookeries,  especially  those  which  are  able  to  maintain  their  position. 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  33 

also  the  propelling  power  when  in  water,  the  exclusive  machinery  with  which  they  drive  their  rapid  passage;  the 
hinder  ones,  floating  behind  like  the  steering  sweep  to  a  whale-boat,  used  evidently  as  rudders,  or  as  the  tail  of  a 
bird  is.  while  its  wings  sustain  and  force  its  rapid  flight. 

The  covering  to  the  body  is  composed  of  two  coats,  one  being  a  short,  crisp,  glistening  over-hair;  and  the  other 
a  close,  soft,  elastic  pelage,  or  fur,  which  gives  the  distinctive  value  to  the  pelt.  I  can  call  it  readily  to  the  mind 
of  my  readers,  when  I  say  to  them  that  the  down  aud  feathers  on  the  breast  of  a  duck  lay  relatively  as  the  fur  and 
hair  do  upon  the  skin  of  the  seal. 

At  this  season  of  jirst  "hauling  up",*  in  the  spring,  the  prevailing  color  of  the  bulls,  after  they  dry  off  and 
have  been  exposed  to  the  weather,  is  a  dark,  dull  brown,  with  a  sprinkling  in  it  of  lighter  brown-black,  and  a 
number  of  hoary  or  grizzly  gray  coats  peculiar  to  the  very  old  males.  On  the  shoulders  of  all  of  them,  that  is, 
the  adults,  the  over-hair  is  either  a  gray  or  rufous  ocher,  or  a  very  emphatic  "  pepper  and  salt";  this  is  called  the 
it  wig".  The  body-colors  are  most  intense  and  pronounced  upon  the  back  of  the  head,  neck,  and  spine,  fading  down 
on  the  flanks  lighter,  to  much  lighter  ground  on  the  abdomen ;  still  never  white  or  even  a  clean  gray,  so  beautiful 
aud  peculiar  to  them  when  young,  and  to  the  females.  The  skin  of  the  muzzle  aud  flippers  is  a  dark  bluish-black, 
fading  in  the  older  examples  to  a  reddish  and  purplish  tint.  The  color  of  the  ears  and  tail  is  similar  to  that  of 
the  body,  perhaps  a  trifle  lighter;  the  ears  on  a  bull  fur-seal  are  from  one  inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  in  length ;  the 
pavilions  or  auricles  are  tightly  rolled  up  on  themselves,  so  that  they  are  similar  in  shape  to,  and  exactly  the  size  of, 
the  little  finger  on  the  human  hand,  cut  off  at  the  second  phalangeal  joint,  a  trifle  more  cone-shaped,  however,  as 
they  are  greater  at  the  base  than  they  are  at  the  tip.  They  are  haired  and  furred  as  the  body  is. 

I  think  it  probable  that  this  animal  has  and  does  exert  the  power  of  compressing  or  dilating  this  scroll-like 
pavilion  to  its  ear.  just  according  as  it  dives  deeper  or  rises  in  the  water;  and  also,  I  am  quite  sure  that  the  hair- 
seal  has  this  control  over  the  meatus  externus,  from  what  I  have  seen  of  it.  I  have  nol  been  able  to  verify  it  in 
either  case  by  actual  observation:  yet  such  opportunity  as  I  have  had  gives  me  undoubted  proof  of  the  fact,  that 
the  hearing  of  the  fur-seal  is  wonderfully  keen  and  surpassingly  acute.  If  you  make  any  noise,  no  matter  how 
slight,  the  alarm  will  be  given  instantly  by  these  insignificaut-lookiug  auditors,  and  the  animal,  awaking  from 
profound  sleep,  assumes,  with  a  single  motion,  an  erect  posture,  gives  a  stare  of  stupid  astonishineut,  at  the  same 
time  breaking  out  into  incessant,  surly  roaring,  growling,  and  "spitting". 

VOICE  OF  THE  FUR-SEAL. — This  sintting,  as  I  call  it,  is  by  no  means  a  fair  or  full  expression  of  the  most 
characteristic  sound  or  action,  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  peculiar  to  the  fur-seals  alone,  the  bulls  in  particular.  It 
is  the  usual  prelude  to  all  their  combats,  and  it  is  their  signal  of  astonishment.  It  follows  somewhat  in  this 
way:  when  the  two  disputants  are  nearly  within  reaching  or  striking  distance,  they  make  a  numl>er  of  feints 
or  false  passes,  as  fencing-masters  do,  at  one  another,  with  the  mouth  wide  open,  lifting  the  lips  or  snarling  so  as 
to  exhibit  the  glistening  teeth,  aud  with  each  pass  of  the  head  aud  neck  they  expel  the  air  so  violently  through 
the  larynx,  as  to  make  a  rapid  choo-cJtoo-choo  sound,  like  steam-puffs  as  they  escape  from  the  smoke-stack  of  a 
locomotive  when  it  starts  a  heavy  train,  especially  while  the  driving-wheels  slip  on  the  raiL 

All  of  the  balls  have  the  power  and  frequent  inclination  to  utter  four  distinct  calls  or  notes.  This  is 
not  the  case  with  the  sea  lion,t  whose  voice  is  confined  to  a  single  bass  roar,  or  that  of  the  walrus,  which  is 
limited  to  a  dull  grunt,  or  that  of  the  hair  seal,  j  which  is  inaudible.  This  volubility  of  the  fur-seal  is  decidedly 
chaiacteristic  and  prominent;  he  utters  a  hoarse,  resonant  roar,  loud  aud  long;  he  gives  vent  to  a  low,  entirely 
different,  gurgling  growl;  he  emits  a  chuckling,  sibilant,  piping  whistle,  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  convey 
an  adequate  idea,  for  it  must  be  heard  to  be  understood ;  and  this  spitting  or  choo  sound  just  mentioned. 
The  cows§  have  but  one  note — a  hollow,  prolonged,  bla-a-ting  call,  addressed  only  to  their  pups;  on  all  other 
occasions  they  are  usually  silent.  It  is  something  strangely  like  the  cry  of  a  calf  or  an  old  sheep.  They  also  make 
a  spitting  sound  or  snort  when  suddenly  disturbed — a  kind  of  a  cough,  as  it  were.  The  pups  "  blaat"  also,  with  little 
or  no  variation,  their  sound  being  somewhat  weaker  and  hoarser  than  their  mother's,  after  birth ;  they,  too, comically 
spit  or  cough  when  aroused  suddenly  from  a  nap  or  driven  into  a  corner,  opening  their  little  mouths  like  young 
birds  in  a  nest,  when  at  bay,  backed  up  in  some  crevice,  or  agaiust  some  tussock. 

Indeed,  so  similar  is  the  sound,  fliat  I  noticed  that  a  number  of  sheep  which  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company 
had  brought  up  from  San  Francisco  to  St.  George  island,  during  the  summer  of  1873,  were  constantly  attracted  to 
the  rookeries,  aud  were  running  in  among  the  "holluschickie '';  so  much  se,  that  they  neglected  the  good  pasturage 

*  "Hauliug  up."  a  technical  term,  applied  to  the  action  of  the  seals  \vheu  they  laud  from  the  surf  and  haul  up  or  drag  themselves 
over  the  beach.  It  is  expressive  and  appropriate,  as  are  most  of  the  scaling  phrases. 

}  Eiimeiopias  StrUtri.  }  Plioca  ritulina. 

§  Without  explanation,  I  may  be  considered  as  making  use  of  paradoxical  language  by  using  these  terms  of  description;  for  the 
inconsistency  of  talking  of  "pups",  with  "cows",  aud  "bulls",  aud  "rookeries",  on  the  breeding-grounds  of  the  same,  cannot  fail  to  Ire 
noticed;  but  fhis  nomi-nclatnre  lias  been  given  and  used  by  the  American  aud  English  whaling  and  sealing  parties  for  many  years,  and 
the  characteristic  features  of  the  seals  themselves  so  suit  the  naming,  that  I  have  felt  satisfied  to  retain  the  style  throughout  as  rendering 
my  description  more  intelligible,  especially  so  to  those  who  are  engaged  in  the  business,  or  may  be  hereafter.  The  Russians  are  inoru 
consistent,  but  not  so  "pat";  they  call  the  bull  ••see-catch",  a  term  implying  strength,  vignr.  etc.;  the  cow,  "malkah."  or  mother;  the 
;>ups.  "kotickie,"  or  little  seals:  the  non-breeding  males  under  six  aud  seven  years,  ••  holluscliickie,"  or  bachelors.  The  name  applied 
collectively  to  the  fur-seal  by  them  is  "morskie-kot,"  or  sea-cat. 
o 


34  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

on  the  uplands  beyond,  and  a  small  boy  had  to  be  regularly  employed  to  herd  them  where  they  could  feed  to 
advantage.  These  transported  Ovidce,  though  they  could  not  possibly  find  anything  in  their  eyes  suggestive  of 
companionship  among  the  seals,  had  their  ears  so  charmed  by  the  sheep-like  accents  of  the  female  pinnipeds,  as 
to  persuade  them  against  their  senses  of  vision  and  smell. 

The  sound  which  arises  from  these  great  breeding-grounds  of  the  fur-seal,  where  thousands  upon  tens  of 
thousands  of  angry,  vigilant  bulls  are  roaring,  chuckling,  and  piping,  and  multitudes  of  seal-mothers  are  calling 
in  hollow,  blaating  tones  to  their  young,  that  in  turn  respond  incessantly,  is  simply  defiance  to  verbal  description. 
It  is,  at  a  slight  distance,  softened  into  a  deep  booming,  as  of  a  cataract;  and  I  have  heard  it,  with  a  light,  fair  wind 
to  the  leeward,  as  far  as  six  miles  out  from  land  on  the  sea;  and  even  in  the  thunder  of  the  surf  and  the  roar  of 
heavy  gales,  it  will  rise  up  and  over  to  your  ear  for  quite  a  considerable  distance  away.  It  is  the  monitor  which 
the  sea-captains  anxiously  strain  their  ears  for,  when  they  run  their  dead  reckoning  up,  and  are  laying  to  for  the 
fog  to  rise,  in  order  that  they  may  get  their  bearings  of  the  land;  once  heard,  they  hold  on  to  the  sound  and  feel 
their  way  in  to  anchor.  The  seal-roar  at  "Novastoshnah"  during  the  summer  of  1872,  saved  the  life  of  the  surgeon*, 
and  six  natives  belonging  to  the  island,  who  had  pushed  out  on  an  egging-trip  from  Northeast  point  to  Walrus 
island.  I  have  sometimes  thought,  as  I  have  listened  through  the  night  to  this  volume  of  extraordinary  sound, 
which  never  ceases  with  the  rising  or  the  setting  of  the  sun  throughout  the  entire  season  of  breeding,  that  it  was 
fully  equal  to  the  churning  boom  of  the  waves  of  Niagara.  Night  and  day,  throughout  the  season,  this  din  upon 
the  rookeries  is  steady  and  constant. 

EFFECTS  OF  HEAT  ON  THE  SEALS. — The  seals  seem  to  suffer  groat  inconvenience  and  positive  misery  from  a 
comparatively  low  degree  of  heat.  I  have  often  been  surprised  to  observe  that,  when  the  temperature  was  40°  and 
48°  Fahr.  on  land  during  the  summer,  they  would  show  everywhere  signs  of  distress,  whenever  they  made  any 
exertion  in  moving  or  fighting,  evidenced  by  panting  and  the  elevation  of  their  hind  flippers,  which  they  used 
incessantly  as  so  many  fans.  With  the  thermometer  again  higher,  as  it  is  at  rare  intervals,  standing  at  55°  and  GO0, 
they  then  seem  to  suffer  even  when  at  rest ;  and  at  such  times  the  eye  is  struck  by  the  kaleidoscopic  appearance  of 
a  rookery — in  any  of  these  rookeries  where  the  seals  are  spread  out  in  every  imaginable  position  their  lithesome 
bodies  can  assume,  all  industriously  fan  themselves ;  they  use  sometimes  the  fore-flippers  as  ventilators,  as  it  were, 
by  holding  them  aloft  motionless,  at  the  same  time  fanning  briskly  with  the  hinder  ones,  according  as  they  sit  or  lie. 
This  wavy  motion  of  fanning  or  flapping  gives  a  hazy  indistinctness  to  the  whole  scene,  which  is  difficult  to  express 
in  language ;  but  one  of  the  most  prominent  characteristics  of  the  fur-seal,  and  perhaps  the  most  unique  feature,  is 
this  veiy  fanning  manner  in  which  they  use  their  flippers,  when  seen  on  the  breeding-grounds  at  this  season.  They 
also,  when  idle,  as  it  were,  off-shore  at  sea,  lie  on  their  sides  in  the  water  with  only  a  partial  exposure  of  the  body, 
the  head  submerged,  and  then  hoist  up  a  fore-  or  hind-flipper  clear  out  of  the  water,  at  the  same  time  scratching 
themselves  or  enjoying  a  momentary  nap ;  but  in  this  position  there  is  no  fanning.  I  say  "scratching",  because, 
the  seal,  in  common  with  all  animals,  is  preyed  upon  by  vermin,  and  it  has  a  peculiar  species  of  louse,  or  parasitic 
tick,  that  belongs  to  it. 

SLEEPING  AFLOAT. — Speaking  of  the  seal  as  it  rests  in  the  water,  leads  me  to  remark  that  they  seem  to  sleep 
as  sound  and  as  comfortably,  bedded  on  the  waves  or  rolled  by  the  swell,  as  they  do  on  the  land  :  they  lie  on  their 
backs,  fold  the  fore-flippers  down  across  the  chest,  and  turn  the  hind  ones  up  and  over,  so  that  the  tips  rest  on  their 
necks  and  chins,  thus  exposing  simply  the  nose  and  the  heels  of  the  hind  flippers  above  water,  nothing  else  being 
seen.  In  this  position,  unless  it  is  very  rough,  the  seal  sleeps  as  serenely  as  did  the  prototype  of  that  memorable 
song,  who  was  "  rocked  in  the  cradle  of  the  deep  ". 

FASTING  OF  THE  SEALS  AT  THE  ROOKERIES  :  INTESTINAL  WORMS. — All  the  bulls,  from  the  very  first,  that 
have  been  able  to  hold  their  positions,  have  not  left  them  from  the  moment  of  their  landing  for  a  single  instant, 
night  or  day;  nor  will  they  do  so  until  the  end  of  the  rutting  season,  which  subsides  entirety  between  the  1st  and 
10th  of  August,  beginning  shortly  after  the  coming  of  the  cows  in  June.  Of  necessity,  therefore,  this  causes  them 
to  fast,  to  abstain  entirely  from  food  of  any  kind,  or  water,  for  three  months  at  least;  and  a  few  of  them  actually 
stay  out  four  months,  in  total  abstinence,  before  going  back  into  the  water  for  the  first  time  after  "hauling  up"  in 
May;  they  then  return  as  so  many  bony  shadows  of  what  they  were  only  a  few  months  anteriorly ;  covered  with 
wounds,  abject  and  spiritless,  they  laboriously  crawl  back  to  the  sea  to  renew  a  fresh  lease  of  life. 

Such  physical  endurance  is  remarkable  enough  alone;  but  it  is  simply  wonderful,  when  we  come  to  associate 
this  fasting  with  the  unceasing  activity,  restlessness,  and  duty  devolved  upon  the  bulls  as  the  heads  of  largo 
families.  They  do  not  stagnate  like  hibernating  bears  in  caves ;  there  is  not  one  torpid  breath  drawn  by  them 
in  the  whole  period  of  their  fast;  it  is  evidently  sustained  and  accomplished  by  the  self-absorption  of  their  own 
fat,  with  which  they  are  so  liberally  supplied  when  they  first  come  out  from  the  sea  and  take  up  their  positions  on 
the  breeding-grounds;  and  which  gradually  disappears,  until  nothing  but  the  staring  hide,  protrudiug  tendons  and 
bones  mark  the  limit  of  their  abstinence.  There  must  be  some  remarkable  provision  made  by  nature  for  ihe 

*  Dr.  Otto  Cramer.  The  suddenness  with  which  fog  and  wind  shut  down  and  sweep  over  the  st'a  here,  even  when  the  day  opens  most 
auspiciously  for  a  short  boat-voyage,  has  so  alarmed  the  natives  in  times  past,  that  a  visit  is  now  never  made  by  them  from  island  to 
island,  unless  on  one  of  the  company's  vessels.  Several  bidarrahs  have  never  been  heard  from,  which,  in  earlier  times,  attempted  to  sail, 
with  picked  crews  of  the  natives,  from  one  island  to  the  other. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  35 

entire  torpidity  of  the  seals'  stomachs  and  bowels,  in  consequence  of  their  being  empty  and  unsupplied  daring  this 
long  period,  coupled  with  the  intense  activity  and  physical  energy  of  the  animals  throughout  that  time,  which, 
however,  in  spite  of  the  violation  of  a  supposed  physiological  law,  does  not  seem  to  affect  them,  for  they  come  back 
jnst  as  sleek,  fat,  and  ambitious  as  ever,  in  the  following  season. 

I  have  examined  the  stomachs  of  hundreds  which  were  driven  up  and  killed  immediately  after  their  arrival  in 
the  spring,  near  the  village ;  I  have  the  word  of  the  natives  here,  who  have  seen  hundreds  of  thousands  of  them 
opened  during  the  slaughtering-seasons  past,  but  in  no  single  case  has  anything  ever  been  found,  other  than  the 
bile  and  ordinary  secretions  of  healthy  organs  of  this  class,  with  the  marked  exception  of  finding  in  every  one  a 
.snarl  or  cluster  of  worms,*  from  the  size  of  a  waluut  to  a  bunch  as  large  as  a  man's  fist.  Fasting  apparently  has 
no  effect  upon  the  worms,  for  on  the  rare  occasion,  and  perhaps  the  last  one  that  will  ever  occur,  of  killing  three  or 
four  hundred  old  bulls  late  in  the  fall  to  supply  the  natives  with  canoe  skins,  I  was  present,  and  again  examined 
their  paunches,  finding  the  same  ascaridae  within.  They  were  lively  in  these  empty  stomachs,  and  their  presence, 
I  think,  gives  some  reason  for  the  habit  which  the  old  bulls  have  (the  others  do  not)  of  swallowing  small 
water-worn  bowlders,  the  stones  in  some  of  the  stomachs  weighing  half  a  pound  apiece,  in  others  much  smaller. 
In  one  paunch  I  found  over  five  pounds,  in  the  aggregate,  of  large  pebbles,  which,  in  grinding  against  one  another, 
I  believe,  must  comfort  the  seal  by  aiding  to  destroy,  in  a  great  measure,  those  intestinal  pests. 

The  sea  lion  is  also  troubled  in  the  same  way  by  a  similar  species  of  worm,  and  I  preserved  the  stomach  of  one 
of  these  animals  in  which  there  was  more  than  ten  pounds  of  stones,  some  of  them  alone  very  great  in  size.  Of 
this  latter  animal,  I  suppose  it  could  swallow  bowlders  that  weigh  two  and  three  pounds  each.  I  can  ascribe 
no  other  cause  for  this  habit  among  those  animals  than  that  given,  as  they  are  the  highest  type  of  the  carnivora, 
eating  fish  as  a  regular  means  of  subsistence,  varying  the  monotony  of  this  diet  with  occasional  juicy  fronds  of 
sea-weed  or  kelp,  and  perhaps  a  crab  or  such  once  in  a  while,  provided  it  is  small  and  tender  or  soft-shelled.  I  know 
that  the  sailors  say  that  the  CaUoritinus  swallows  these  stones  to  "ballast"  himself;  in  other  words,  to  enable  him 
to  dive  deeply  and  quickly;  but  I  noticed  that  the  females  and  the  "holluschickie"  dive  quicker  and  swim  better 
than  the  old  fellows  above  specified,  and  they  do  so  without  any  ballast.  They  also  have  less  muscular  power, 
only  a  tithe  of  ,that  which  the  "  see-catch"  possesses.  No,  the  ballast  theory  is  not  tenable.  (See  note,  39,  J.) 

ARRIVAL  OF  THE  COW-SEALS  AT  THE  ROOKERIES. — Between  the  12th  and  14th  of  June,  the  first  of  the  cow- 
seals,  as  a  rule,  come  up  from  the  sea ;  then  the  long  agony  of  the  waiting  bulls  is  over,  and  they  signalize  it  by 
a  period  of  universal,  spasmodic,  desperate  fighting  among  themselves.  Though  they  have  quarreled  all  the  time 
from  the  moment  they  first  lauded,  and  continue  to  do  so  until  the  end  of  the  season,  in  August,  yet  that  fighting 
which  takes  place  at  this  date  is  the  bloodiest  and  most  vindictive  known  to  the  seal.  I  presume  that  the  heaviest 
percentage  of  mutilation  and  death  among  the  old  males  from  these  brawls,  occur  in  this  week  of  the  earliest 
appearance  of  the  females. 

A  strong  contrast  now  between  the  males  and  females  looms  up,  both  in  size  and  shape,  which  is  heightened 
by  the  air  of  exceeding  peace  and  dove-like  amiability  which  the  latter  class  exhibit,  iu  contradistinction  to  the 
ferocity  and  saturnine  behavior  of  the  former. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  COW-SEAL. — The  cows  are  from  4  to  4£  feet  in  length  from  head  to  tail,  and  much  more 
shapely  iu  their  proportions  thtui  the  bulls;  there  is  no  wrapping  around  their  necks  and  shoulders  of  unsightly 
masses  of  blubber;  their  lithe,  elastic  forms,  from  the  first  to  the  last  of  the  season,  are  never  altered;  this  they 
are,  however,  enabled  to  keep,  because  in  the  provision  of  seal-economy,  they  sustain  no  protracted  fasting  period ; 
for,  soon  after  the  birth  of  their  young  they  leave  it  on  the  ground  and  go  to  the  sea  for  food,  returning  perhaps 
tomorrow,  perhaps  later,  even  not  for  several  days  in  fact,  to  again  suckle  and  nourish  it;  having  in  the  mean 
time  sped  far  off  to  distant  fishing  banks,  and  satiated  a  hunger  which  so  active  and  highly  organized  an  animal 
must  experience,  when  deprived  of  sustenance  for  any  length  of  time. 

As  the  females  come  up  wet  and  dripping  from  the  water,  they  are  at  first  a  dull,  dirty-gray  color,  dark  on  the 
back  and  upper  parts,  but  iu  a  few  hours  the  transformation  in  their  appearance  made  by  drying  is  wonderful. 
You  would  hardly  believe  that  they  could  be  the  same  animals,  for  they  now  fairly  glisten  with  a  rich  steel  and 
maltese  gray  luster  on  the  back  of  the  head,  the  neck,  and  along  down  the  spine,  which  blends  into  an  almost 
snow-white  over  the  chest  and  on  the  abdomen.  But  this  beautiful  coloring  iu  turn  is  again  altered  by  exposure 
to  the  same  weather;  for  after  a  few  days  it  will  gradually  change,  so  that  by  the  lapse  of  two  or  three  weeks  it  is 
a  dull,  rufous-ocher  below,  and  a  cinereous  brown  and  gray  mixed  above.  This  color  they  retain  throughout  the 
breeding-season,  up  to  the  time  of  shedding  their  coat  in  August. 

The  head  and  eye  of  the  female  are  exceedingly  beautiful ;  the  expression  is  really  attractive,  gentle,  and 
intelligent;  the  large,  lustrous,  blue-black  eyes  are  humid  and  soft  with  the  tenderest  expression,  while  the  small, 
well  formed  head  is  poised  as  gracefully  on  her  neck  as  can  be  well  imagined;  she  is  the  very  picture  of  benignity 
and  satisfaction,  when  she  is  perched  up  on  some  convenient  rock,  and  has  aii  opportunity  to  quietly  fan  herself,  the 
eyes  halt-closed  and  the  head  thrown  back  on  her  gently  swelling  shoulders. 

The  females  laud  on  these  islands  not  from  the  slightest  desire  to  see  their  uncouth  lords  and  masters,  but  from 

*  Xematoda. 


36  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

an  accurate  and  instinctive  appreciation  of  the  time  in  which  their  period  of  gestation  ends.  They  are  in  fact 
driven  up  to  the  rookeries  by  this  cause  alone ;  the  young  cannot  be  brought  forth  in  the  water,  and  in  all  cases 
marked  by  myself,  the  pups  were  born  soon  after  landing,  some  in  a  few  hours,  but  most  usually  a  day  or  so 
elapses  before  delivery. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  TCOOKERIES. — They  are  noticed  and  received  by  the  males  on  the  water-line  stations 
with  attention;  they  are  alternately  coaxed  and  urged  up  on  to  the  rocks,  as  far  as  these  beach-masters  can  do  so, 
by  chuckling,  whistling,  and  roaring,  and  then  they  are  immediately  under  the  most  jealous  supervision;  but, 
owing  to  the  covetous  and  ambitious  nature  of  the  bulls  which  occupy  these  stations  to  the  rear  of  the  water-line 
and  way  back,  the  little  cows  have  a  rough-and-tumble  time  of  it  when  they  begin  to  arrive  in  small  numbers  at 
first',  for  no  sooner  is  the  pretty  animal  fairly  established  on  the  station  of  male  number  one,  who  has  welcomed  her 
there,  then  he,  perhaps,  sees  another  one  of  her  style  in  the  water  jrom  whence  she  has  come,  and,  in  obedience  to 
his  polygamous  feeling,  devotes  himself  anew  to  coaxing  the  later  arrival,  by  that  same  winning  manner  so  successful 
in  the  first  case;  then  when  bull  number  two,  just  back,  observes  bull  number  one  off  guard,  he  reaches  out  with  his 
long  strong  neck  and  picks  up  the  unhappy  but  passive  cow  by  the  scruff  of  hei's,  just  as  a  cat  does  a  kitten,  and 
deposits  her  upon  his  seraglio  ground ;  then  bulls  number  three  and  four,  and  so  on,  in  the  vicinity,  seeing  this 
high-handed  operation,  all  assail  one  another,  especially  number  two,  and  for  a  moment  have  a  tremendous  fight, 
perhaps  lasting  half  a  minute  or  so,  and  during  this  commotion  the  little  cow  is  generally  moved,  or  moves,  farther 
back  from  the  water,  two  or  three  stations  more,  where,  when  all  gets  quiet  again,  she  usually  remains  in  peace. 
Her  last  lord  and  master,  not  having  the  exposure  to  such  diverting  temptation  as  her  first,  gives  her  such  care 
that  she  not  only  is  unable  to  leave,  did  she  wish,  but  no  other  bull  can  seize  upon  her.  This  is  only  a  faint  (and  I 
fully  appreciate  it),  wholly  inadequate  description  of  the  hurly-burly  and  the  method  by  which  the  rookeries  are 
filled  up,  from  first  to  last,  when  the  females  arrive.  That  is  only  one  instance  of  the  many  trials  and  tribulations 
which  both  parties  on  the  rookery  subject  themselves  to,  before  the  harems  are  tilled. 

Fur  back,  fifteen  or  twenty  "see-catchie"  stations  deep  from  the  water  line,  and  sometimes  more,  but  generally 
not  over  an  average  of  ten  or  fifteen,  the  cows  crowd  in  at  the  close  of  the  season  for  arriving,  which  is  by  the  10th 
or  14th  of  July ;  then  they  are  able  to  go  about  pretty  much  as  they  please,  for  the  bulls  have  become  so  greatly 
enfeebled  by  this  constant  fasting,  fighting,  and  excitement  during  the  past  two  months,  that  they  are  quite  content 
now  even  with  only  one  or  two  partners,  if  they  should  have  no  more. 

The  cows  seem  to  haul  up  in  compact  bodies  from  the  water,  filling  in  the  whole  ground  to  the  rear  of  the 
rookeries,  never  scattering  about  over  the  surface  of  this  area;  they  have  mapped  out  from  the  first  their  chosen 
resting  places,  and  they  will  not  lie  quietly  in  any  position  outside  of  the  great  mass  of  their  kind.  This  is  due  to 
their  intensely  gregarious  nature,  and  admirably  adapted  for  their  protection.  And  here  I  should  call  attention  to 
the  fact,  that  they  select  this  rookery-ground  with  all  the  skill  of  civil  engineers.  It  is  preferred  with  special 
reference  to  the  drainage,  for  it  must  lie  so  that  the  produce  of  the  constantly  dissolving  fogs  and  rain-clouds  shall 
not  lie  upon  them,  having  a  great  aversion  to,  and  a  firm  determination  to  rest  nowhere  on  water-puddled  ground. 
This  is  admirably  exhibited,  and  will  be  understood  by  a  study  of  my  sketch-maps  which  follow,  illustrative  of 
these  rookeries  and  the  area  and  position  of  the  seals  upon  them.  Every  one  of  those  breeding  grounds  slopes  up 
gently  from  the  sea,  and  on  no  one  of  them  is  there  anything  like  a  muddy  Hat. 

I  found  it  an  exceedingly  difficult  matter  to  satisfy  myself  as  to  a  fair  general  average  number  of  cows  to  each 
bull  on  the  rookery;  but,  after  protracted  study,  I  think  it  will  be  nearly  correct  when  I  assign  to  each  male  a 
general  ratio  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  females  at  the  stations  nearest  the  water;  and  for  those  back  in  order  from 
that  line  to  the  rear,  from  five  to  twelve;  but  there  are  so  many  exceptional  cases,  so  many  instances  where 
forty-five  and  fifty  females  are  all  under  the  charge-  of  one  male;  and  then,  again,  where  there  are  two  or  thiee 
females  only,  that  this  question  was  and  is  not  entirely  satisfactory  in  its  settlement  to  my  mind. 

Near  Ketavie  point,  and  just  above  it  to  the  north,  is  an  odd  wash-out  of  the  basalt  by  the  surf,  which  has 
chiseled,  as  it  were,  from  the  foundation  of  the  island,  a  lava  table,  with  a  single  roadway  or  land  passage  to  it. 
Upon  the  summit  of  this  footstool  I  counted  forty-five  cows,  all  under  the  charge  of  OTIC  old  veteran.  He  had  them 
penned  up  on  this  table-rock  by  taking  his  stand  at  the  gate,  as  it  were,  through  which  they  passed  up  and  passed 
down — a  Turkish  brute  typified. 

UNATTACHED  MALES. — At  the  rear  of  all  these  rookeries  there  is  invariably  a  large  number  of  able-bodied 
males  which  have  come  late,  but  wait  patiently,  yet  in  vain,  for  families  ;  most  of  them  having  had  to  fight  as 
desperately  for  the  privilege  of  being  there  as  any  of  their  more  fortunately-located  neighbors,  who  are  nearer  the 
water,  and  in  successiou  from,  thene  to  where  they  are  themselves  ;  but  the  cows  do  not  like  to  be  in  any  outside 
position.  They  cannot  be  coaxed  out  where  they  are  not  in  close  company  with  their  female  mates  and  masses. 
They  lie  most  quietly  and  contentedly  in  the  largest  harems,  and  cover  the  surface  of  the  ground  so  thickly  that 
there  is  hardly  moving  or  turning  room  until  the  females  cease  to  come  from  the  sea.  The  inaction  on  the  part  of 
the  males  iu  the  rear  during  the  breeding-season  only  serves  to  qualify  them  to  move  into  the  places  which  are 
necessarily  vacated  by  those  males  that  are,  in  the  mean-time,  obliged  to  leave  from  virile  exhaustion,  or  incipient 
wounds.  All  the  surplus  able-bodied  males,  that  have  not  been  successful  in  effecting  a  landing  on  the  rookeries, 


THE 'FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  37 

cannot  at  any  one  time  during  the  season  be  seen  here  on  this  rear  line.  Only  a  portion  of  their  number  are  in 
sight;  the  others  are  either  loafing  at  sea,  adjacent,  or  are  hauled  out  iu  morose  squads  between  the  rookeries  on 
the  beaches. 

COURAGE  OF  THE  FUR-SEALS. — The  courage  with  which  the  fur-seal  holds  his  position  as  the  head  and 
guardian  of  a  family,  is  of  the  highest  order.  I  have  repeatedly  tried  to  drive  them  from  their  harem  posts,  when 
they  were  fairly  established  on  their  stations,  and  have  always  failed,  with  few  exceptions.  I  might  use  every  stone 
at  my  command,  making  all  the  noise  I  could.  Finally,  to  put  their  courage  to  the  fullest  test,  I  have  walked  up  to 
within  twenty  feet  ot\au  old  veteran,  toward  the  extreme  end  of  Tolstoi,  who  had  only  four  cows  in  charge,  and 
commenced  with  my  double-barreled  fowling-piece  to  pepper  him  all  over  with  flue  mustard-seed  shot,  being  kind 
enough,  in  spite  of  my  zeal,  not  to  put  out  his  eyes.  His  bearing,  in  spite  of  the  noise,  smell  of  powder,  and 
painful  irritation  which  the  fine  shot  must  have  produced,  did  not  change  in  the  least  from  the  usual  attitude  of 
determined,  plucky  defense,  which  nearly  all  of  the  bulls  assumed  when  attacked  with  showers  of  stones  and  noise; 
he  would  dart  out  right  and  left  with  his  long  neck  and  catch  the  timid  cows,  that  furtively  attempted  to  run  after 
each  report  of  my  gun,  fling  and  drag  them  back  to  their  places  under  his  head;  and  then,  stretching  up  to  his  lull 
height  look  me  directly  and  defiantly  in  the  face,  roaring  and  chuckling  most  vehemently.  The  cows,  however, 
soon  got  away  from  him ;  they  could  not  stand  my  racket  in  spite  of  their  dread  of  him ;  but  he  still  stood  his 
ground,  making  little  charges  on  me  of  ten  or  fifteen  feet,  in  a  succession  of  gallops  or  lunges,  spitting  furiously,  and 
then  comically  retreating  to  the  old  position,  with  an  indescribable  leer  and  swagger,  back  of  which  he  would  not 
go,  fully  resolved  to  hold  his  own  or  die  in  the  attempt. 

This  courage  is  all  the  more  noteworthy  from  the  fact  that,  in  regard  to  man,  it  is  invariably  of  a  defensive 
character.  The  seal  is  always  on  the  defensive;  he  never  retreats,  and  he  will  not  attack.  If  he  makes  you  return 
when  you  attack  him,  he  never  follows  you  much  farther  than  the  boundary  of  his  station,  and  then  no  aggravation 
will  compel  hi .11  to  take  the  offensive,  so  far  as  1  have  been  able  to  observe.  I  was  very  much  impressed  by  this 
trait. 

BEHAVIOR  OF  THE  FEMALE  SEALS  ON  THE  ROOKERIES. — The  cows,  during  the  whole  season,  do  great  credit 
to  their  amiable  expression,  by  their  manner  and  behavior  on  the  rookery;  they  never  fight  or  quarrel  one  with 
another,  and  never  or  seldom  utter  a  cry  of  pain  or  rage  when  they  are  roughly  handled  by  the  bulls,  which 
frequently  get  a  cow  between  them  and  actually  tear  the  skin  from  her  back  with  their  teeth,  cutting  deep  gashes 
in  it  as  they  snatch  her  from  mouth  to  mouth.  If  sand  does  not  get  into  these  wounds  it  is  surprising  how  rapidly 
they  heal;  and,  from  the  fact  that  I  never  could  see  scars  on  them  anywhere  except  the  fresh  ones  ot  this  year, 
they  must  heal  effectually  and  exhibit  no  trace  the  next  season. 

The  cows,  like  the  bulls,  vary  much  in  weight,  but  the  extraordinary  disparity  in  the  size  of  the  sexes,  adult, 
is  exceedingly  striking.  Two  females  taken  from  the  rookery  nearest  to  St.  Paul  village,  right  under  the  bluffs, 
and  almo.-t  beneath  the  eaves  of  the  natives'  houses,  called  "Xah  Speel",  after  they  had  brought  forth  their  young, 
were  weighed  by  myself,  and  their  respective  returns  on  the  scales  were  56  and  100  pounds  each;  the  former  being 
about  three  or  four  years  old,  and  the  latter  over  six — perhaps  ten  ;  both  were  fat,  or  rather  iu  good  condition — as 
good  as  they  ever  are.  Thus  the  female  is  just  about  one-sixth  the  size  of  the  male.*  Among  the  sea-lions  the' 
proportion  is  just  one-half  the  bulk  of  the  male,t  while  the  hair-seals,  as  I  have  before  stated,  are  not  distinguishable 
in  this  respect,  as  far  as  I  could  observe,  but  my  notice  was  limited  to  a  few  specimens  only. 

ATTITUDES  OF  FUR  SEALS  ox  LAND.— It  is  quite  beyond  my  power,  indeed  entirely  out  of  the  question,  to 
give  a  fair  idea  of  the  thousand  and  one  positions  in  which  the  seals  compose  themselves  and  rest  when  on  land. 
They  may  be  said  to  assume  every  possible  attitude  which  a  flexible  body  can  be  put  into,  no  matter  how  characteristic 
or  seemingly  forced  or  constrained.  Their  joints  seem  to  be  double-hinged ;  iu  fact,  all  ball  and  socket  union  of 
the  bones.  One  favorite  position,  especially  with  the  females,  is  to  perch  upon  a  point  or  edge-top  of  some  rock, 
and  throw  their  heads  back  upon  their  shoulders,  with  the  nose  held  directly  up  and  aloft ;  and  then  closing  their 
eyes,  to  take  short  naps  without  changing  their  attitude,  now  and  then  softly  lilting  one  or  the  other  of  their  long, 
slender  hind-flippers,  which  they  slowly  wave  with  that  peculiar  fanning  motion  to  which  I  have  alluded  heretofore. 
Another  attitude,  and  one  of  the  most  common,  is  to  curl  themselves  up  just  as  a  dog  does  on  a  hearth-rug, 
bringing  the  tail  and  nose  close  together.  They  also  stretch  out,  laying  the  head  close  to  the  body,  and  sleep  an 
hour  or  two  without  rising,  holding  one  of  the  hind-llippers  up  all  the  time,  now  and  then  gently  moving  it,  the 
eyes  being  tightly  closed. 

I  ought,  perhaps,  to  define  the  anomalous  tail  of  the  fur-seal  here.  It  is  just  about  as  important  as  the 
caudal  appendage  to  a  bear,  even  less  significant ;  it  is  the  very  emphasis  of  abbreviation.  In  the  old  males  it  is 
positively  only  four  or  five  inches  iu  length,  while  among  the  females  only  two  and  a  half  to  three  inches,  wholly 
inconspicuous,  and  not  even  recognized  by  the  casual  observer. 

SLEEPING  SEALS. — I  come  now  to  speak  of  another  feature  which  interested  me  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  much 
as  any  other  characteristic  of  this  creature;  and  that  is  their  fashion  ol  slumber.  The  sleep  of  the  fur-seal,  seen  on 
laud,  from  the  old  male  down  to  the  youngest,  is  always  accompanied  by  an  involuntary,  nervous,  muscular  twitching 

*  Adult  male  and  female.  t  Auult  male  and  female;  EuiMiopwn  StdUri. 


38  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  slight  shifting  of  the  flippers,  together  with  ever  and  anon  quivering  and  uneasy  rollings  of  the  body,  accompanied 
by  a  quick  folding  anew  of  the  fore-flippers;  all  of  which  may  be  signs,  as  it  were,  in  fact,  of  their  simply  having 
nightmares,  or  of  sporting,  in  a  visionary  way,  far  off  in  some  dream-land  sea;  but  perhaps  very  much  as 
an  old  nurse  said,  in  reference  to  the  smiles  on  a  sleeping  child's  face,  they  are  disturbed  by  their  intestinal 
parasites.  I  have  studied  hundreds  of  such  somnolent  examples.  Stealing  softly  up  so  closely  that  I  could  lay 
my  hand  upon  them  from  the  point  where  I  was  sitting,  did  I  wish  to,  and  watching  the  sleeping  seals,  I  have 
always  found  their  sleep  to  be  of  this  nervous  description.  The  respiration  is  short  and  rapid,  but  with  no 
breathing  (unless  the  ear  is  brought  very  close)  or  snoring  sound;  the  quivering,  heaving  of  the  flanks  only 
indicates  the  action  of  the  lungs.  I  have  frequently  thought  that  I  had  succeeded  in  finding  a  snoring  seal, 
especially  among  the  pups ;  but  a  close  examination  always  gave  some  abnormal  reason  ior  it ;  generally  a  slight 
distemper,  never  anything  severer,  however,  than  some  trifle,  by  which  the  nostrils  were  stopped  up  to  a  greater  or 
less  degree. 

The  cows  on  the  rookeries  sleep  a  great  deal,  but  the  males  have  the  veriest  cat-naps  that  can  be  imagined.  I 
never  could  time  the  slumber  of  any  old  male  on  the  breeding-grounds,  which  lasted  without  interruption  longer 
than  five  minutes,  day  or  night;  while  away  from  these  places,  however,  I  have  known  them  to  lie  sleeping  in  the 
manner  I  have  described,  broken  by  these  fitful,  nervous,  dreamy  starts,  yet  without  opening  the  eyes,  for  an  hour 
or  so  at  a  time. 

With  the  exception  of  the  pups,  the  fur-seal  seems  to  have  very  little  rest  awake  or  sleeping ;  perpetual  motion 
is  well  nigh  incarnate  with  its  being. 

FUR  SEAL  PUPS. — As  I  have  said  before,  the  females,  soon  after  landing,  are  delivered  of  their  young. 
Immediately  after  the  birth  of  the  pup  (twins  are  rare,  if  ever)  the  little  creature  finds  its  voice,  a  weak,  husky 
blaat,  and  begins  to  paddle  about  with  its  eyes  wide  open  from  the  start,  in  a  confused  sort  of  way  for  a  few 
minutes,  until  the  mother  turns  around  to  notice  her  offspring  and  give  it  attention,  and  still  later  to  suckle  it ; 
and  for  this  purpose  she  is  supplied  with  four  small,  brown  nipples,  almost  wholly  concealed  in  the  fur,  and  which 
are  placed  about  eight  inches  apart,  lengthwise  with  the  body,  on  the  abdomen,  between  the  fore-  and  hind-flippers, 
with  about  four  inches  of  space  between  them  transversely.  These  nipples  are  seldom  visible,  and  then  faintly 
seen  through  the  hair  and  fur.  The  milk  is  abundant,  rich,  and  creamy.  The  pups  nurse  very  heartily,  almost 
gorging  themselves,  so  much  so  that  they  often  have  to  yield  up  the  excess  of  what  they  have  taken  down,  mewling 
and  puking  in  the  most  orthodox  manner. 

The  pup  from  birth,  and  for  the  next  three  months,  is  of  a  jet-black  color,,  hair  and  flippers,  save  a  tiny  white 
patch  just  back  of  each  forearm.  It  weighs  first  from  three  to  four  pounds,  and  is  twelve  to  fourteen  inches  long. 
It  does  not  seem  to  nurse  more  than  once  every  two  or  three  days,  but  in  this  I  am  very  likely  mistaken,  for  they 
may  have  received  attention  from  the  mother  in  the  night,  or  other  times  in  the  day  when  I  was  unable  to  keep  up 
my  watch  over  the  individuals  which  I  had  marked  for  this  supervision. 

The  apathy  with  which  the  young  are  treated  by  the  old  on  the  breeding-grounds,  especially  by  the  mothers, 
was  very  strange  to  me,  and  I  was  considerably  surprised  at  it.  I  have  never  seen  a  seal-mother  caress  or  fondle 
'her  offspring;  and  should  it  stray  to  a  short  distance  from  the  harem,  I  conld  step  to  and  pick  it  up,  and  even  kill 
it  before  the  mother's  eye,  without  causing  her  the  slightest  concern,  as  far  as  all  outward  signs  and  manifestation 
would  indicate.  The  same  indifference  is  also  exhibited  by  the  male  to  all  that  may  take  place  of  this  character 
outside  of  the  boundary  of  his  seraglio;  but  the  moment  the  pups  are  inside  the  limits  of  his  harem-ground,  he  is 
a  jealous  and  a  fearless  protector,  vigilant  and  determined  ;  but  if  the  little  animals  are  careless  enough  to  pass 
beyond  this  boundary,  then  I  can  go  up  to  them  and  carry  them  off  before  the  eye  of  the  old  Turk  without 
receiving  from  him  the  slightest  attention  in  their  behalf — a  curious  guardian,  forsooth ! 

It  is  surprising  to  me  how  few  of  these  young  pups  get  crushed  to  death  while  the  ponderous  males  are 
floundering  over  them,  engaged  in  fighting  and  quarreling  among  themselves.  I  have  seen  two  bulls  dash  at  each 
other  with  all  the  energy  of  furious  rage,  meeting  right  in  the  midst  of  a  small  "pod"  of  forty  or  fifty  pups, 
tramp  over  them  with  all  their  crushing  weight,  and  bowling  them  out  right  and  left  in  every  direction  by  the 
impetus  of  their  movements,  without  injuring  a  single  one,  as  far  as  I  could  see.  Still,  when  we  come  to  consider 
the  fact  that,  despite  the  great  weight  of  the  old  males,  their  broad,  flat  flippers  and  yielding  bodies  may  press 
down  heavily  on  these  little  fellows  without  actually  breaking  bones  or  mashing  them  out  of  shape,  it  seems 
questionable  whether  more  than  one  per  cent,  of  all  the  pups  born  each  season  on  these  great  rookeries  of  the 
Pribylov  islands  are  destroyed  in  this  manner  on  the  breeding-grounds.* 

The  vitality  of  the  fur  seal  is  simply  astonishing.  His  physical  organization  passes  beyond  the  fabled  nine 
lives  of  the  cat.  As  a  slight  illustration  of  its  tenure  of  life,  I  will  mention  the  fact,  that  one  morning  the  chief 
came  to  me  with  a  pup  in  his  arms,  which  had  just  been  born,  and  was  still  womb-moist,  saying  that  the  mother 
had  been  killed  at  Tolstoi  by  accident,  and  he  supposed  that  I  would  like  to  have  a  "  choochil  ".t  I  took  it  up 

*  The  only  damage  which  these  little  fellows  have  up  here,  is  being  caught  by  au  October  gale  down  at  the  surf-inargiu,  when  they 
have  not  fairly  learned  to  swim;  large  numbers  have  been  destroyed  by  sudden  "nips"'  of  this  character. 
t  Specimen  to  stuff. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  39 

into  my  laboratory,  and  finding  that  it  could  walk  about  and  make  a  great  noise,  I  attempted  to  feed  it,  with  the 
idea  of  bavmg  a  comfortable  subject  to  my  pencil,  for  life  study,  of  the  young  in  the  varied  attitudes  of  sleep  and 
motion.  It  refused  everything  that  I  couM  summon  to  its  attention  as  food;  and,  alternately  sleeping  and  walking, 
in  its  clumsy  fashion,  about  the  floor,  it  actually  lived  nine  days — spending  the  half  of  every  day  in  floundering 
over  the  floor,  accompanying  all  movement  with  a  persistent,  hoarse,  blaating  cry — and  I  do  not  believe  it  ever  had 
a  single  drop  of  its  mother's  milk. 

In  the  pup,  the  head  is  the  only  disproportionate  feature  at  birth,  when  it  is  compared  with  the  adult  form  ;  the 
neck  being  ulso  relatively  shorter  and  thicker.  The  eye  is  large,  round  and  full,  but  almost  a  "  navy  blue  "  at  times, 
it  soon  changes  into  the  blue-black  of  adolescence. 

The  females  appear  to  go  to  and  come  from  the  water  to  feed  and  bathe,  quite  frequently,  after  bearing  their 
young,  and  the  immediate  subsequent  coitus  with  the  male ;  and  usually  return  to  the  spot  or  its  immediate 
neighborhood,  where  they  leave  their  pups,  crying  out  for  them,  and  recognizing  the  individual  replies,  though  ten 
thousand  around,  all  together,  should  blaat  at  once.  They  quickly  single  out  their  own  and  nurse  them.  It  would 
certainly  be  a  very  unfortunate  matter  if  the  mothers  could  not  identify  their  young  by  sound,  since  their  pups  get 
together  like  a  great  swarm  of  bees,  and  spread  out  upon  the  ground  iu  what  the  sealers  call  "  pods",  or  clustered 
groups,  while  they  are  young  and  not  very  large ;  but  from  the  middle  or  end  of  September,  until  they  leave  the 
islands  for  the  dangers  of  the  great  Pacific,  in  the  winter,  along  by  the  first  of  November,  they  gather  iu  this 
manner,  sleeping  and  frollicking  by  tens  of  thousands,  bunched  together  at  various  places  all  over  the  islands 
contiguous  to  the  breediag-grounds,  and  right  on  them.  A  mother  comes  up  from  the  sea,  whither  she  has  been  to 
wash,  and  perhaps  to  feed,  for  the  last  day  or  two,  feeling  her  way  along  to  about  where  she  thinks  her  pup  should 
be — at  least  where  she  left  it  last — but  perhaps  she  misses  it,  and  finds  instead  a  swarm  of  pups  in  which  it  has  beeu 
incorporated,  owing  to  its  great  fondness  for  society.  The  mother,  without  first  entering  into  the  crowd  of  thousands, 
calls  out  just  as  a  sheep  does  for  a  lamb ;  and,  out  of  all  the  din  she — if  not  at  first,  at  the  end  of  a  few  trials — 
recognizes  the  voice  of  her  offspring,  and  then  advances,  striking  out  right  and  left,  toward  the  position  from  which 
it  replies.  But  if  the  pup  happens  at  this  time  to  be  asleep,  it  gives,  of  course,  no  response,  even  though  it  were 
close  by ;  in  the  event  of  this  silence  the  cow,  after  calling  for  a  time  without  being  answered,  curls  herself  up  and 
takes  a  nap,  or  lazily  basks,  to  be  usually  more  successful,  or  wholly  so,  when  she  calls  again. 

The  pups  themselves  do  not  know  their  own  mothers — a  fact  which  I  ascertained  by  careful  observation — but 
they  are  so  constituted  that  they  incessantly  cry  out  at  short  intervals  during  the  whole  time  they  are  awake,  and  iu 
this  way  the  mother  can  pick  out  from  the  monotonous  blaating  of  thousands  of  pups,  her  own,  and  she  will  not 
permit  any  other  to  suckle  it;  but  the  "kotickie"  themselves  attempt  to  nose  around  every  seal- mother  that  comes 
in  contact  with  them.  (See  note,  39,  I.) 

DISORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EOOKERIES. — Between  the  end  of  July  and  the  5th  or  8th  of  August  of  every  year, 
the  rookeries  are  completely  changed  in  appearance;  the  systematic  and  regular  disposition  of  the  families  or  harems 
over  the  whole  extent  of  breeding-ground  has  disappeared ;  all  that  clock-work  order  which  has  heretofore  existed 
seems  to  be  broken  up.  The  breeding-season  over,  those  bulls  which  have  held  their  positions  since  the  first  of  3Iay 
leave,  most  of  them  thin  in  flesh  and  weak,  and  of  their  number  a  very*large  proportion  do  not  come  out  again  on 
land  during  the  season ;  but  such  as  are  seen  at  the  end  of  October  and  November,  are  in  good  flesh.  They  have  a 
new  coat  of  rich,  dark,  grey-brown  hair  and  fur,  with  gray  or  grayish  ocher  "  wigs"  of  longer  hair  over  the  shoulders, 
forming  a  fresh,  strong  contrast  to  the  dull,  rusty,  brown  and  umber  dress  in  which  they  appeared  to  us  during  the 
summer,  and  which  they  had  begun  to  shed  about  the  first  of  August,  in  common  with  the  females  and  the 
"holluschickie".  After  these  males  leave,  at  the  close  of  their  season:.s  work  and  of  the  rutting  for  the  year,  those 
of  them  that  happen  to  return  to  the  land  in  any  event  do  not  come  back  until  the  end  of  September,  and  do  not 
haul  upon  the  rookery-grounds  again.  As  a  rule  they  prefer  to  herd  together,  like  the  younger  males,  upon  the  sand- 
beaches  and  rocky  points  close  to  the  water. 

The  cows  and  pups,  together  with  those  bulls  which  we  have  noticed  in  waiting  in  the  rear  of  the  rookeries, 
and  which  have  been  in  retirement  throughout  the  whole  of  the  breeding-season,  now  take  possession,  iu  a  very 
disorderly  manner,  of  the  rookeries.  There  come,  also,  a  large  number  of  young,  three,  four,  and  five-year  old 
males,  which  have  been  prevented  by  the  menacing  threats  of  the  older,  stronger  bulls,  from  landing  among  the 
females  during  the  rutting-seasou. 

Before  the  middle  of  August  three-fourths,  at  least,  of  the  cows  at  this  date  are  off  in  the  water,  only  coming 
ashore  at  irregular  intervals  to  nurse  and  look  after  their  pups  a  short  time.  They  presented  to  my  eye,  from  the 
summits  of  the  bluffs  round  about,  a  picture  more  suggestive  than  anything  I  have  ever  seen  presented  by  animal 
life,  of  entire  comfort  and  enjoyment.  Here,  just  out  and  beyond  the  breaking  of  the  rollers,  they  idly  lie  on  the 
rocks  or  sand  beaches,  ever  .and  anon  turning  over  and  over,  scratching  their  backs  and  sides  with  their  fore-  and 
hind-flippers.  The  seals  on  the  breeding-ground  appear  to  get  very  lousy.  (See  note,  39,  K.) 

MANGY  cows  AND  PUPS. — The  frequent  winds  and  showers  drive  and  spatter  sand  into  their  fur  and  eyes, 
often  making  the  latter  quite  sore.  This  occurs  when  they  are  obliged  to  leave  the  rocky  rookeries  and  follow  their 
pups  out  over  the  sand-ridges  and  flats,  to  which  they  always  have  a  natural  aversion.  On  the  hauling-grounds 


40  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

they  pack  the  soil  under  foot  so  hard  and  tightly  in  many  places,  that  it  holds  water  in  the  surface  depressions,  just 
like  so  many  rock-basins.  Out  of  and  into  these  puddles  the  pups  and  the  females  flounder  and  patter  incessantly, 
until  evaporation  slowly  abates  the  nuisance.  This  is  for  the  time  only,  inasmuch  as  the  next  day,  perhaps,  brings 
more  rain,  and  the  dirty  pools  are  replenished. 

The  pups  sometimes  get  so  thoroughly  plastered  in  these  muddy,  slimy  puddles,  that  the  hair  falls  off'  in 
patches,  giving  them,  at  first  sight,  the  appearance  of  being  troubled  with  scrofula  or  some  other  plague :  from  my 
investigations,  directed  to  this  point,  I  became  satisfied  that  they  were  not  permanently  injured,  (hough  evidently 
very  much  annoyed.  With  reference  to  this  suggestion  as  to  sickness  or  distemper  among  the  seals,'!  gave  the 
subject  direct  and  continued  attention,  and  in  no  one  of  the  rookeries  could  I  discover  a  single  seal,  no  matter  how 
old  or  young,  which  appeared  to  be  suffering  in  the  least  from  any  physical  disorder,  other  than  that  which  they 
themselves  had  inflicted,  one  upon  the  other,  by  fighting.  The  third  season,  passing  directly  under  my  observation, 
failed  to  reward  my  search  with  any  manifestation  of  disease  among  the  seals  which  congregate  in  such  mighty 
numbers  on  the  rookeries  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George.  The  remarkable  freedom  from  all  such  complaints  enjoyed 
by  these  animals  is  noteworthy,  and  the  most  trenchant  and  penetrating  cross-questioning  of  the  natives,  also, 
failed  to  give  me  any  history  or  evidence  of  an  epidemic  in  the  past. 

HOSPITALS. — The  observer  will,  however,  notice  every  summer,  gathered  in  melancholy  squads  of  a  dozen  to 
one  hundred  or  so,  scattered  along  the  coast  where  the  healthy  seals  never  go,  those  sick  and  disabled  bulls  which 
have,  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  season,  been  either  internally  injured  or  dreadfully  scarred  by  the  teeth  of  their 
opponents  in  fighting.  Sand  is  blown  by  the  winds  into  the  fresh  wounds  and  causes  an  inflammation  and  a 
sloughing,  which  very  often  finishes  the  life  of  the  victim.  The  sailors  term  these  invalid  gatherings  "hospitals",  a 
phrase  which,  like  most  of  their  homely  expressions,  is  quite  appropriate. 

YOUNG  SEALS  LEARNING  TO  SWIM. — Early  in  August,  usually  by  the  8th  or  10th,  I  noticed  one  of  the 
remarkable  movements  of  the  season.  I  refer  to  the  pup's  first  essay  in  swimming.  Is  it  not  odd — paradoxical — 
that  the  young  seal,  from  the  moment  of  his  birth  until  he  is  a  mouth  or  six  weeks  old,  is  utterly  unable  to  swim? 
If  he  is  seized  by  the  nape  of  the  neck  and  pitched  out  a  rod  into  the  water  from  shore,  his  bullet-like  head  will 
drop  instantly  below  the  surface,  and  his  attenuated  posterior  extremities  flap  impotently  on  it ;  suffocation  is  the 
question  of  only  a  few  minutes,  the  stupid  little  creature  not  knowing  how  to  raise  his  immersed  head  and  gain 
the  air  again.  After  they  have  attained  the  age  I  indicate,  their  instinct  drives  them  down  to  the  margin  of  the 
surf,  where  the  alternate  ebbing  and  flowing  of  its  wash  covers  and  uncovers  the  rocky  or  sandy  beaches.  They 
first  smell  and  then  touch  the  moist  pools,  and  flounder  in  the  upper  wash  of  the  surf,  which  leaves  them  as  sudden'y 
high  and  dry  as  it  immersed  them  at  first.  After  this  beginning  they  make  slow  and  clumsy  progress  in  learning 
the  knack  of  swimming.  For  a  week  or  two,  when  overhead  in  depth,  they  continue  to  flounder  about  in  the  most 
awkward  manner,  thrashing  the  water  as  little  dogs  do,  with  their  fore  feet,  making  no  attempt  whatever  to  use  the 
hinder  ones.  Look  at  that  pup  now,  launched  out  for  the  first  time  beyond  his  depth ;  see  how  he  struggles — his 
mouth  wide  open,  and  his  eyes  fairly  popping.  He  turns  instantly  to  the  beach,  ere  he  has  fairly  struck  out  from  the 
point  whence  he  launched  in,  and,  as  the  receding  swell  which  at  first  carried  him  off  his  feet  and  out,  now  returning, 
leaves  him  high  and  dry,  for  a  few  rniiuTtes  he  seems  so  weary  that  he  weakly  crawls  up,  out  beyond  its  swift 
returning  wash,  and  coils  himself  up  immediately  to  take  a  recuperative  nap.  He  sleeps  a  few  minutes,  perhaps 
half  an  hour,  then  awakes  as  bright  as  a  dollar,  apparently  rested,  and  at  his  swimming  lesson  he  goes  again.  l>y 
repealed  and  persistent  attempts,  the  young  seal  gradually  becomes  familiar  with  the  water  and  acquainted  with 
his  own  power  over  that  element,  which  is  to  be  his  real  home  and  his  whole  support.  Once  boldly  swimming,  the 
pup  fairly  revels  in  his  new  happiness.  He  and  his  brethren  have  now  begun  to  haul  and  swarm  along  the  whole 
length  of  St.  Paul  coast,  from  Northeast  point  down  and  around  to  Zapadnie,  lining  the  alternating  sand-beaches 
and  rocky  shingle  with  their  plump,  black  forms.  How  they  do  delight  in  it!  They  play  \\ith  a  zest,  and  chatter 
like  our  own  children  in  the  kindergartens — swimming  in  endless  evolutions,  twisting,  turning,  or  diving — and  when 
exhausted,  drawing  their  plump,  round  bodies  up  again  on  the  beach.  Shaking  themselves  dry  as  young  dogs 
Avould  do,  they  now  either  go  to  sleep  on  the  spot,  or  have  a  lazy  terrestrial  frolic  among  themselves. 

How  an  erroneous  impression  ever  got  into  the  mind  of  any  man  in  this  matter  of  the  pup's  learning  to  swim, 
I  confess  that  I  am  wholly  unable  to  imagine.  I  have  not  seen  any  "driving"  of  the  young  pups  into  the  water 
by  the  old  ones,  in  order  to  teach  them  this  process,  as  certain  authors  have  positively  affirmed.*  There  is  not  the 
slightest  supervision  by  the  old  mother  or  father  of  the  pup,  from  the  first  moment  of  his  birth,  in  this  respect, 
until  he  leaves  for  the  North  Pacific,  full-fledged  with  amphibious  power.  At  the  close  of  the  breeding  season,  every 
year,  the  pups  are  restlessly  and  constantly  shifting  back  and  forth  over  the  rookery  ground  of  their  birth,  in  large 
squads,  sometimes  numbering  thousands  upon  thousands.  In  the  course  of  this  change  of  position  they  all  sooner 
or  later  come  in  contact  with  the  sea;  they  then  blunder  into  the  water  for  the  first  time,  in  a  most  awkward, 
ungainly  manner,  and  get  out  as  quick  as  they  can ;  but  so  far  from  showing  any  fear  or  dislike  of  this,  their  most 
natural  element,  as  soon  as  they  rest  from  their  exertion  they  are  immediately  ready  for  a  new  trial,  and  keep  at  it, 
provided  the  sea  is  not  too  stormy  or  rough.  During  all  this  period  of  self- tuition  they  seem  thoroughly  to  enjoy 
the  exercise,  in  spite  of  their  repeated  and  inevitable  discomfitures  at  the  beginning. 

•  Alli-n.     rfixivry  <>/  \wtli  Amcra-ui>  I'inniftda,  p.  387. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  41 

PODDING  OF  THE  PUPS. — The  "podding"  of  these  young  pups  in  the  rear  of  the  great  rookeries  of  St. 
Paul,  is  one  of  the  most  striking  and  interesting  phases  of  this  remarkable  exhibition  of  highly-organized  life. 
"Wlieu  they  first  bunch  together  they  are  all  black,  for  they  hare  not  begun  to  shed  the  natal  coat:  they  shine  with 
an  unctuous,  greasy  reflection,  and  grouped  in  small  armies  or  great  regiments  on  the  sand-dnne  tracts  at  Northeast 
point,  they  present  a  most  extraordinary  and  fascinating  sight.  Although  the  appearance  of  the  "holluschickie"  at 
English  bay  fairly  overwhelms  the  observer  with  the  impression  of  its  countless  multitudes,  yet  I  ain  free  to  declare, 
that  at  no  one  point  in  this  evolution  of  the  seal-life,  during  the  reproductive  season,  have  I  been  so  deeply  stricken 
by  tlie  sense  of  overwhelming  enumeration,  as  I  have  when,  standing  on  the  summit  of  Cross  hill,  I  looked  down  to 
the  southward  and  westwaid  over  a  reach  of  six  miles  of  alternate  grass  and  sand-dune  stretches,  mirrored  upon 
which  were  hundreds  of  thousands  of  these  little  black  pups,  spread  in  sleep  and  sport  within  this  restricted  field 
of  vision.  They  appeared  as  countless  as  the  grams  of  the  sand  upon  which  they  rested. 

SECOND  CHANGE  OF  COAT. — By  the  luth  of  September,  all  the  pups  born  during  the  year  have -become  familiar 
with  the  water;  they  have  all  learned  to  swim,  and  are  now  nearly  all  down  by  the  water's  edge,  skirting  in  large 
musses  the  rocks  and  beaches  previously  this  year  unoccupied  by  seHls  of  any  class.  Xow  they  are  about  five  or 
six  times  their  original  weight,  or,  in  other  words,  they  are  30  to  40  pounds  avoirdupois,  as  plump  and  fat  as  butter- 
balls,  and  they  begin  to  take  on  their  second  coat,  shedding  their  black  pup-hair  completely.  This  second  coat 
does  not  vary  in  color,  at  this  age,  between  the  sexes.  They  effect  this  transformation  in  dress  very  slowly,  and. 
cannot,  as  a  rule,  be  said  to  have  ceased  their  molting  until  the  middle  or  20th  of  October. 

This  second  coat,  or  sea-going  jacket,  of  the  pup,  is  a  uniform,  dense,  light-gray  over-hair,  with  an  under-fur 
which  is  slightly  grayish  in  some,  but  is,  in  most  cases,  a  soft,  light-browu  hue.  The  over-hair  is  fine,  close,  and 
elastic,  from  two  thirds  of  an  inch  to  an  inch  in  length,  while  the  fur  is  not  quite  half  an  inch  long.  Thus  the 
coarser  hair  shingles  over  and  conceals  the  soft  under-wool  completely,  giving  the  color  by  which,  after  the  second 
year,  the  sex  of  the  animal  is  recognized.  The  pronounced  difference  between  the  sexes  is  not  effected,  however, 
by  color  alone  until  the  third  year  of  the  animal.  This  over-hair  of  the  young  pup?s  new  jacket  on  the  back,  neck, 
and  head,  is  a  dark  chinchilla-gray,  blending  into  a  si  one- white,  just  tinged  with  a  grayish  tint  on  the  abdomen  and 
chest.  The  upper  lip,  upon  which  the  whiskers  or  moustaches  take  root,  is  covered  with  hair  of  a  lighter  gray 
than  that  of  the  body.  This  moustache  consists  of  fifteen  or  twenty  longer  or  shorter  bristles,  from  half  an  inch 
to  three  inches  in  length,  some  brownish,  horn-colored,  and  others  whitish-gray  and  translucent,  on  each  side  and 
back  and  below  the  nostrils,  leaving  the  muzzle  quite  prominent  and  hairless.  The  nasal  openings  and  their 
suiroundings  are,  as  I  have  before  said  when  speaking  of  this  feature,  similar  to  those  of  a  dog. 

EYES  OF  THE  PVP- SEALS. — The  most  attractive  feature  about  the  fur-seal  pup,  and  that  which  holds  this  place 
as  it  grows  on  and  older,  is  the  eye.  This  organ  is  exceedingly  clear,  dark,  and  liquid,  with  which,  for  beauty  and 
amiability,  together  with  real  intelligence  of  expression,  those  of  no  other  animal  that  1  have  ever  seen,  or  have 
ever  read  of,  can  be  compared;  indeed,  there  are  few  eyes  in  the  orbits  of  men  and  women  which  suggest  more 
pleasantly  the  ancient  thought  of  their  being  "windows  to  the  soul".  The  lids  to  the  eye  are  fringed  with  long, 
l>eifect  lashes,  and  the  slightest  irritation  in  the  way  of  dust  or  sand,  or  other  foreign  substances,  seems  to  cause 
them  exquisite  annoyance,  accompanied  by  immoderate  weeping.  This  involuntary  tearfulness  so  moved  Steller 
that  lie  ascribed  it  to  the  processes  of  the  seal's  mind,  and  declared  that  the  seal-mothers  actually  shed  tears. 

RANGE  OF  VISION. — I  do  not  think  that  their  range  of  vision  on  land,  or  out  of  the  water,  is  very  great. 
I  have"  frequently  experimented  with  adult  fur-seals,  by  allowing  them  to  catch  sight  of  my  person,  so  as  to 
distinguish  it  as  of  foreign  character,  three  and  four  hundred  paces  off,  taking  the  precaution  of  standing  to  the 
leeward  of  them  when  the  wind  was  blowing  strong,  and  then  walking  unconcernedly  up  to  them.  I  have  invariably 
noticed,  that  they  would  allow  me  to  approach  quite  close  before  recognizing  my  strangeness;  this  occurring  to 
them,  they  at  once  made  a  lively  noise,  amedley  of  coughing,  spitting,  snorting,  and  blaating,  and  pluugedin  spasmodic 
lopes  and  shambled  to  get  away  from  my  immediate  neighborhood;  as  to  the  pups,  they  all  stupidly  stare  at  the 
form  of  a  human  being  until  it  is  fairly  on  them,  when  they  also  repeat  in  miniature  these  vocal  gymnastics  and 
physical  efforts  of  the  older  ones,  to  retreat  or  withdraw  a  few  rods,  sometimes  only  a  few  feet,  from  the  spot  upon 
which  you  have  cornered  them,  after  which  they  instantly  resume  their  previous  occupation  of  either  sleeping  or 
playing,  as  though  nothing  had  happen*  d.  (See  note,  30,  M.) 

POTTER  OF  SCENT  :  ODOR  OF  THE  SEALS. — The  greatest  activity  displayed  by  any  one  of  the  five  senses  of 
the  seal,  is  evidenced  in  its  power  of  scent.  This  faculty  is  all  that  can  be  desired  in  the  line  of  alertness.  I  never 
failed  to  awaken  an  adult  seal  from  the  soundest  sleep,  when  from  a  half  to  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  no  matter 
how  softly  I  proceeded,  if  I  got  to  the  windward,  though  they  sometimes  took  alarm  when  I  was  a  mile  off. 

They  leave  evidences  of  their  being  on  these  great  reproductive  fields,  chiefly  at  the  rookeries,  in  the  hundreds 
of  dead  carcasses  which  mark  the  last  of  those  animals  that  have  been  rendered  infirm,  sick,  or  were  killed  by 
fighting  among  themselves  in  the  caily  part  of  the  season,  or  of  those  which  have  crawled  far  away  from  the  scene 
of  battle  to  die  from  death- wounds  received  in  the  bitter  struggle  for  a  harem.  On  the  rookeries,  wherever  these 
lifeless  bodies  rest,  the  living,  old  and  young,  clamber  and  patter  backward  and  forward  over  and  on  the  putrid 
remains,  and  by  this  constant  stiniug  up  of  decayed  matter,  give  rise  to  an  exceedingly  disagreeable  and  far- 


42  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

reaching  "  funk".  This  has  been,  by  all  writers  who  have  dwelt  on  the  subject,  referred  to  as  the  smell  which  these 
animals  emit  for  another  reason — erroneously  called  the  "  rutting  odor  ".  If  these  creatures  have  any  odor  peculiar 
to  them  when  in  this  condition,  1  will  frankly  confess  that  I  am  unable  to  distinguish  it  from  the  fumes  which  are 
constantly  being  stirred  up  and  rising  out  of  those  decaying  carcasses  of  the  older  seals,  as  well  as  from  the 
bodies  of  the  few  pups  which  have  been  killed  accidentally  by  the  heavy  bulls  fighting  over  them,  charging  back 
and  forth  against  one  another,  so  much  of  the  time. 

They  have,  however,  a  very  characteristic  and  peculiar  smell,  when  they  are  driven  and  get  heated ;  their 
breath  exhalations  possess  a  disagreeable,  faint,  sickly  odor,  and  when  I  have  walked  within  its  influence  at  the 
rear  of  a  seal-drive,  I  could  almost  fancy,  as  it  entered  my  nostrils,  that  I  stood  beneath  an  ailanthus  tree  in  bloom ; 
but  this  odor  can  by  no  means  be  confounded  with  what  is  universally  ascribed  to  another  cause.  It  is  also 
noteworthy,  that  if  your  finger  is  touched  ever  so  lightly  to  a  little  fur-seal  blubber,  it  will  smell  very  much  like  that 
which  I  have  appreciated  and  described  as  peculiar  to  their  breath,  which  arises  from  them  when  they  are  driven, 
only  it  is  a  little  stronger.  Both  the  young  and  old  fur-seals  have  this  same  breath-taint  at  all  seasons  of  the  year. 

BEVIEW  OF  STATEMENTS  CONCERNING  LIFE  IN  THE  COOKERIES. — To  recapitulate  and  sum  up  the  system 
and  regular  method  of  life  and  reproduction  on  these  rookeries  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  as  the  seals  seem  to 
have  arranged  it,  I  shall  say  that — 

First.  The  earliest  bulls  land  in  a  negligent,  indolent  way,  at  the  opening  of  the  season,  soon  after  the  rocks  at 
the  water's  edge  are  free  from  ice,  frozen  snow,  etc.  This  is,  as  a  rule,  about  the  1st  to  the  5th  of  every  May.  They 
land  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  season  in  perfect  confidence  and  without  fear;  they  are  very  fat,  and  will 
weigh  at  an  average  500  pounds  each  ;  some  stay  at  the  water's  edge,  some  go  to  the  tier  back  of  them  again,  and 
so  on  until  the  whole  rookery  is  mapped  out  by  them,  weeks  in  advance  of  the  arrival  of  the  first  female. 

Second.  That  by  the  10th  or  12th  of  June,  all  the  male  stations  on  the  rookeries  have  been  mapped  out  and 
fought  for,  and  held  iu  waiting  by  the  "  see-catchie".  These  males  are,  as  a  rule,  bulls  rarely  ever  under  six  years  of 
age;  most  of  them  are  over  that  age,  being  sometimes  three,  and  occasionally  doubtless  four,  times  as  old. 

Third.  That  the  cows  make  their  first  appearance,  as  a  class,  on  or  after  the  12th  or  loth  of  June,  in  very  small 
numbers;  but  rapidly  after  the  23d  and  25th  of  this  mouth,  every  year,  they  begin  to  flock  up  in  such  numbers  as 
to  fill  the  harems  very  perceptibly;  and  by  the  8th  or  10th  of  July,  they  have  all  come,  as  a  rule — a  few  stragglers 
excepted.  The  average  weight  of  the  females  now  will  not  be  much  more  than  80  to  90  pounds  each. 

Fourth.  That  the  breeding-season  is  at  its  height  from  the  10th  to  the  15th  of  July  every  year,  and  that  it 
subsides  entirely  at  the  end  of  this  month  and  early  in  August:  also,  that  its  method  and  system  are  confined 
entirely  to  the  land,  never  effected  in  the  sea. 

Fifth.  That  the  females  bear  their  first  young  when  they  are  three  years  old,  and  that  the  period  of  gestation 
is  nearly  twelve  months,  lacking  a  few  days  only  of  that  lapse  of  time. 

Sixth.  That  the  females  bear  a  single  pup  each,  and  that  this  is  born  soon  after  landing;  no  exception  to  this 
rule  has  ever  been  witnessed  or  recorded. 

Seventh.  That  the  "see-catchie"  which  have  held  the  harems  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  season, 
leave  for  the  water  in  a  desultory  and  straggling  manner  at  its  close,  greatly  emaciated,  and  do  not  return,  if  they 
do  at  all,  until  six  or  seven  weeks  have  elapsed,  when  the  regular  systematic  distribution  of  the  families  over  the 
rookeries  is  at  an  end  for  this  season.  A  general  medley  of  young  males  now  are  free,  which  come  out  of  the 
water,  and  wander  over  all  these  rookeries,  together  with  many  old  males,  which  have  not  been  on  seraglio  duty, 
and  great  numbers  of  the  temales.  An  immense  mnjority  over  all  others  present  are  pups,  since  only  about  25  per 
cent,  of  the  mother-seals  are  out  of  the  water  now  at  any  one  time. 

Eighth.  That  the  rookeries  lose  their  compactness  and  definite  boundaries  of  true  breeding-limit  and  expansion 
by  the  25th  to  the  28th  of  July  every  year;  then,  after  this  date,  the  pups  begin  to  haul  back,  and  to  the  right  and 
left,  iu  small  squads  at  first,  but  as  the  season  goes  on,  by  the  18th  of  August,  they  depart  without  reference  to 
their  mothers ;  and  when  thus  scattered,  the  males,  females,  and  young  swarm  over  more  than  three  and  four  times 
the  area  occupied  by  them  when  breeding  and  born  on  the  icokeries.  The  system  of  family  arrangement  and 
uniform  compactness  of  the  breeding  classes  breaks  up  at  this  date. 

Ninth.  That  by  the  8th  or  10th  of  August  the  pups  born  nearest  the  water  first  begin  to  learn  to  swim  ;  and  that 
by  the  15th  or  20th  of  September  they  are  all  familiar,  more  or  less,  with  the  exercise. 

Tenth.  That  by  the  middle  of  September  the  rookeries  are  entirely  broken  up;  confused,  straggling  bands  of 
females  are  seen  among  bachelors,  pups,  and  small  squads  of  old  males,  crossing  and  recrossing  the  ground  in  an 
aimless,  listless  manner.  The  season  now  is  over. 

Eleventh.  That  many  of  the  seals  do  not  leave  these  grounds  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  before  the  end  of 
December,  and  some  remain  even  as  late  as  the  12th  of  January;  but  that  by  the  end  of  October  and  the  beginning 
of  November  every  year,  all  the  fur-seals  of  mature  age — five  and  MX  years,  and  upward — have  left  the  islands. 
The  younger  males  go  with  the  others:  many  of  the  pups  still  range  about  the  islands,  but  are  not  hauled  to  any 
great  extent  on  the  beaches  or  the  flats.  They  seem  to  prefer  the  rocky  shore-margin,  and  to  lie  as  high  up  as  they 
can  get  on  such  blufl'y  rookeries  as  Tolstoi  and  the  Keef.  By  the  end  of  this  mouth,  November,  they  are,  as  a  rule, 
all  gone. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  43 

Such  is  the  snm  aDd  the  substance  of  my  observations  which  relate  to  the  breeding-grounds  alone  on  St.  Paul 
and  St.  George.  It  is  the  result  of  summering  and  wintering  on  them,  and  these  definite  statements  I  make  with 
that  confidence  which  one  always  feels,  when  he  speaks  of  that  which  has  entered  into  his  mind  by  repeated 
observation,  and  has  been  firmly  grounded  by  careful  deductions  therefrom. 

10.  THE  "HOLLUSCHICKIE"  OK  "BACHELOR"  SEALS— A  DESCRIPTION. 

THE  HAULING  GROUNDS  AND  THEIR  OCCUPANTS. — I  now  call  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  another  very 
remarkable  feature  in  the  economy  of  the  seal-life  on  these  islands.  The  great  herds  of  "holluschickie",*  numbering 
from  one-third  to  one  half,  perhaps,  of  the  whole  aggregate  of  near  5,000,000  seals  known  to  the  Pribylov  group, 
are  never  allowed  by  the  "  see-catchie",  under  the  paiu  of  frightful  mutilation  or  death,  to  put  their  flippers  on  or 
near  the  rookeries. 

By  reference  to  my  map,  it  will  be  observed  that  I  have  located  a  large  extent  of  ground — markedly  so  on 
St.  Paul — as  that  occupied  by  the  seals'  "hauling- grounds  " ;  this  area,  in  fact,  represents  those  portions  of  the  island 
upon  which  the  "holluschickie"  roam  in  their  heavy  squadrons,  wearing  off  and  pclishiug  the  surface  of  the  soil, 
stripping  every  foot,  which  is  indicated  on  the  chart  as  such,  of  its  vegetation  and  mosses,  leaving  the  margin  as 
sharply  defined  on  the  bluffy  uplands  and  sandy  flats  as  it  is  on  the  map  itself. 

The  reason  that  so  much  more  land  is  covered  by  the  "holluschickie"  than  by  the  breeding-seals — ten  times  as 
much  at  least — is  due  to  the  fact,  that  though  not  as  numerous,  perhaps,  as  the  breeding-seals,  they  are  tied  dowu 
to  nothing,  so  to  speak — a:e  wholly  irresponsible,  and  roam  hither  and  thither  as  caprice  and  the  weather  may 
dictate.  Thus  they  wear  off  and  rub  down  a  much  larger  area  than  the  rookery  seals  occupy ;  wandering  aimlessly, 
and  going  back,  in  some  instances,  notably  at  English  bay,  from  one-half  to  a  whole  mile  inland,  not  traveling 
in  desultory  tiles  along  winding,  straggling  paths,  but  sweeping  in  solid  platoons,  they  obliterate  every  spear  of 
grass  and  rub  down  nearly  every  hummock  in  their  way. 

DEFINITION  OF  "HOLLUSCHICKIE". — All  the  male  sea's,  from  six  years  of  age,  are  compelled  to  herd  apart  by 
themselves  and  away  from  the  breeding-grounds,  iu  many  cases  far  away ;  the  large  hauling-grouuds  at  Southwest 
point  being  about  two  miles  from  the  nearest  rookery.  This  class  of  seals  is  termed  "  holluschickie  "  or  the  "bachelor" 
seals  by  the  people,  a  most  fitting  and  expressive  appellation. 

The  seals  of  this  great  subdivision  are  those  with  which  the  natives  on  the  Pribylov  group  are  the  most 
familiar :  naturally  and  especially  so,  since  they  are  the  only  ones,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  thousand  pups,  and 
occasionally  an  old  bull  or  two,  taken  late  in  the  fall  for  food  and  skins,  which  are  driven  up  to  the  killing-grounds  at 
the  village  for  slaughter.  The" reasons  for  this  exclusive  attention  to  the  "  bachelors"  are  most  cogent,  and  will  be 
given  hereafter  when  the  "business"  is  discussed. 

LOCATING  THE  HAULING-GROUNDS:  PATHS  THROUGH  THE  ROOKERIES. — Since  the  "hollnschickie"  are  not 
permitted  by  their  own  kind  to  laud  on  the  rookeries  and  stop  there,  they  have  the  choice  of  two  methods  of 
locating,  one  of  which  allows  them  to  rest  in  the  rear  of  the  rookeries,  and  the  other  on  the  free  beaches.  The  most 
notable  illustration  of  the  former  can  be  witnessed  on  Reef  point,  where  a  pathway  is  left  for  their  ingress  and 
egress  through  a  rookery — a  path  left  by  common  consent,  as  it  were,  between  the  harems.  On  these  trails  of 
passage  they  come  and  go  in  steady  files  all  day  and  all  night  during  the  season,  unmolested  by  the  jealous 
bulls  which  guard  the  seraglios  on  either  side  as  they  travel ;  all  peace  and  comfort  to  the  young  seal  if  he  minds 
his  business  and  keeps  straight  on  up  or  down,  without  stopping  to  nose  about  right  or  left;  all  woe  and  desolation 
to  him,  however,  if  he  does  not,  for  in  that  event  he  will  be  literally  torn  in  bloody  griping,  from  limb  to  limb,  by 
the  vigilant  old  "  see-catchie". 

Siuce  the  two  and  three-year  old  "holluschickie"  come  up  in  small  squads  with  the  first  bulls  in  the  spring,  or  a 
few  days  later,  such  common  highways  as  those  between  the  rookery-ground  and  the  sea  are  traveled  over  before  the 
arrival  of  the  cows,  and  get  well  defined.  A  passage  for  the  "bachelors",  which  I  took  much  pleasure  in  observing 
day  after  day  at  Polaviua,  another  at  Tolstoi,  and  two  on  the  Reef,  in  1872,  were  entirely  closed  up  by  the  "see-catchie" 
and  obliterated,  when  I  again  searched  for  them  in  1874.  Similar  passages  existed,  however,  on  several  of  the 
large  rookeries  of  St.  Paul;  one  of  those  at  Tolstr.i  exhibits  this  feature  very  finely,  for  here  the  hauliug-grouud 
extends  around  from  English  bay,  and  lies  up  back  of  the  Tolstoi  rookery,  over  a  flat  and  rolling  summit,  from  100 
to  120  feet  above  the  sea-level.  The  young  males  and  yearlings  of  both  sexes  come  through  and  between  the  harems, 
at  the  height  of  the  breeding-season,  on  two  of  these  narrow  pathways,  and  before  reaching  the  ground  above,  are 
obliged  to  climb  up  an  almost  abrupt  bluff,  which  they  do  by  following  and  struggling  in  the  water-runs  and  washes 
that  are  worn  into  its  face.  As  this  is  a  large  hauliug-ground,  on  which,  every  favorable  day  during  the  season, 
fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  commonly  rest,  the  sight  of  skillful  seal-climbing  can  be  witnessed  here  at  any  time 
during  that  period ;  and  the  sight  of  such  climbing  as  this  of  Tolstoi  is  exceedingly  novel  and  interesting.  Why, 
verily,  they  ascend  over  and  upon  places  where  an  ordinary  man  might,  at  first  sight,  with  great  positiveness  say 
that  it  was  utterly  impossible  for  him  to  climb. 

*  The  liiihsiaii  term  "Lolluschickie"  or  "bachelors"  is  very  appropriate,  and  is  usually  employed. 


44  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

HAULING  GROUNDS  ON  THE  BEACHES. — The  other  method  of  coining  ashore,  however,  is  the  one  most  followed 
and  favored.  In  this  case  they  avoid  the  rookeries  .altogether,  and  repair  to  the  unoccupied  beaches  between  them, 
and  then  extend  themselves  out  all  the  way  back  from  the  sea,  as  far  from  the  water,  in  some  cases,  as  a  quarter 
and  even  half  of  a  mile.  I  stood  on  the  Tolstoi  sand-dunes  one  afternoon,  toward  the  middle  of  July,  and  had  under 
my  eyes,  in  a  straightforward  sweep  from  my  feet  to  Zapaduie,  a  million  and  a  half  of  seals  spread  out  oil  tliose 
liatding-grouuds.  Of  these,  I  estimated  that  fully  one-half,  at  that  time,  were  pups,  yearlings,  and  "bolhischickie". 
The  rookeries  across  the  bay,  though  plainly  in  sight,  were  so  crowded,  that  they  looked  exactly  as  I  have  seen 
surfaces  appear  upon  which  bees  had  swarmed  in  obedience  to  that  din  and  racket  made  by  the  watchful 
apiarian,  when  he  desires  to  hive  the  restless  honey-makers. 

The  great  majority  of  yearlings  and  "holluscliickie"  are  annually  hauled  out  and  packed  thickly  over  the  sand- 
beach  and  upland  hauling-gronnds,  which  lay  between  the  rookeries  on  St.  Paul  island.  At  St.  George  there  is 
nothing  of  this  extensive  display  to  be  seen,  for  here  is  only  a  tithe  of  the  seal-life  occupying  St.  Paul,  and  no 
opportunity  whatever  is  afforded  for  an  amphibious  parade. 

GENTLENESS  OF  THE  SEALS. — Descend  with  me  from  this  sand-dune  elevation  of  Tolstoi,  and  walk  into  that 
drove  of  "holluschickie"  below  us;  we  can  do  it;  jou  do  not  notice  much  confusion  or  dismay  as  we.  go  in  among 
them;  they  simply  open  out  before  us  and  close  in  behind  our  tracks,  stirring,  crowding  to  the  right  and  left  as  we 
go,  twelve  or  twenty  feet  away  from  us  on  each  side.  Look  at  this  small  flock  of  yearlings,  some  one,  others  two, 
and  even  three  years  old,  which  are  coughing  and  spitting  around  us  now,  staring  up  at  our  faces  in  amazement  as 
we  walk  ahead;  they  struggle  a  few  rods  out  of  our  reach,  and  then  come  together  again  behind  us,  showing  no  further 
sign  of  notice  of  ourselves.  You  could  not  walk  into  a  drove  of  hogs,  at  Chicago,  without  exciting  as  much  confusion 
and  arousing  an  infinitely  more  disagreeable  tumult ;  and  as  for  sheep  on  the  plai::s,  they  would  stampede  far  quicker. 
Wild  animals  indeed !  You  can  now  readily  understand  how  easy  it  is  for  two  or  three  men,  early  in  the  morning,  to 
come  where  we  are,  turn  aside  from  this  vast  herd  in  front  of  and  around  us  two  or  three  thousand  of  the  best 
examples,  and  drive  them  back,  up,  and  over  to  the  village.  That  is  the  way  they  get  the  seals;  there  is  not  any 
''hunting"  or  "chasing"  or  "capturing"  of  fur-seals  on  these  islands. 

"HOLLUSCHICKIE"  DO  NOT  FAST. — While  the  young  male  seals  undoubtedly  have  the  power  of  going  for  lengthy 
intervals  without  food,  they,  like  the  female  seals  on  the  breeding-grounds,  certainly  do  not  maintain  any  long 
fasting  periods  on  land ;  their  coming  and  going  from  the  shore  is  frequent  and  irregular,  largely  influenced  by  the 
exact  condition  of  the  weather  from  day  to  day;  for  instance,  three  or  four  thick,  foggy  days  seem  to  call  them 
out  from  the  water  by  hundreds  of  thousands  upon  the  different  hauliug-grounds  (which  the  reader  observes 
recorded  on  my  map).  In  some  cases,  I  have  seen  them  lie  there  so  close  together  that  scarcely  a  foot  of  ground, 
over  whole  acres,  is  bare  enough  to  be  seen;  then  a  clear  and  warmer  day  follows,  and  this  seal-covered  ground, 
before  so  thickly  packed  with  animal  life,  will  soon  be  almost  deserted :  comparatively  so  at  least,  to  be  filled  up 
immediately  as  before,  when  favorable  weather  shall  again  recur.  They  must  frequently  eat  when  here,  because 
the  first  yearlings  and  "holluschickie"  that  appear  in  the  spring  are  no  fatter,  sleeker,  or  livelier  than  they  are  at 
the  close  of  the  season;  in  other  words,  their  condition,  physically,  seems  to  be  the  same  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  their  appearance  here  during  the  summer  and  fall.  It  is  quite  different,  however,  with  the  "see  catch"; 
we  know  how  and  where  it  spends  two  to  three  months,  because  we  find  it  on  the  grounds  at  all  times,  day  or  night, 
during  that  period. 

SPOETS  AND  PASTIMES  OF  THE  YOUNG  "BACHELORS". — A  small  flock  of  the  young  seals,  one  to  three  years 
old,  generally,  will  often  stray  from  these  hauling-grouud  margins,  up  and  beyond,  over  the  fresh  mosses  and 
grasses,  and  there  sport  and  play  one  with  another,  just  as  little  puppy-dogs  do;  and  when  weary  of  this  gamboling 
a  general  disposition  to  sleep  is  suddenly  manifested,  and  they  stretch  themselves  out  and  curl  up  in  all  the  positions 
and  all  the  postures  that  their  flexible  spines  and  ball-and-socket  joints  will  permit.  They  seem  to  revel  in  the 
unwonted  vegetation,  and  to  be  delighted  with  their  own  efforts  in  rolling  down  and  crushing  the  tall  stalks  of 
the  grasses  and  umbelliferous  plants ;  one  will  lie  upon  its  back,  hold  up  its  hind-flippers,  and  lazily  wave  them 
about,  while  it  scratches,  or  rather  rubs,  its  ribs  with  the  fore-hands  alternately,  the  eyes  being  tightly  closed  during 
the  whole  performance;  the  sensation  is  evidently  so  luxurious  that  it  does  not  wish  to  have  any  side-issue  draw 
off  its  blissful  self-attention.  Another,  curled  up  like  a  cat  on  a  rug,  draws  its  breath,  as  indicated  by  the  heaving 
of  its  flanks,  quickly  but  regularly,  as  though  in  heavy  sleep :  another  will  lie  flat  upon  its  stomach,  its  hind- 
flippers  covered  and  concealed,  while  it  tightly  folds  its  fore-feet  back  against  its  sides,  just  as  a  fish  carries  its  pectoral 
fins — and  so  on  to  no  end  of  variety,  according  to  the  ground  and  the  fancy  of  the  animals. 

These  "bachelor"  seals  are,  I  am  sure,  without  exception,  the  most  restless  animals  in  the  whole  brute  creation, 
which  can  boast  of  a  high  organization.  They  frolic  and  lope  about  over  the  grounds  for  hours,  without  a  moments 
cessation,  and  their  sleep,  after  this,  is  exceedingly  short,  and  it  is  ever  accompanied  with  nervous  twitchings  and 
uneasy  muscular  movements ;  they  seein  to  be  fairly  brimful  and  overrunning  with  spontaneity — to  be  surcharged 
with  fervid,  electric  life. 

Another  marked  feature  which  I  have  observed  among  the  multitudes  of  "holluschickie'',  which  have  come 
under  my  personal  observation  and  auditory,  and  one  very  characteristic  of  this  class,  is,  that  nothing  like  ill  humor 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  45 

appears  in  all  of  their  playing  together;  they  never  growl  or  bite,  or  show  even  the  slightest  angry  feeling,  bnt  are 
invariably  as  happy,  one  with  another,  as  can  be  imagined.  This  is  a  very  singular  trait;  they  lose  it,  however, 
with  astonishing  rapidity,  when  their  ambition  and  strength  develops  and  carries  them,  in  due  course  of  time, 
to  the  rookery.  (See  note,  39,  N.) 

The  pups  and  yearlings  have  an  especial  fondness  for  sporting  on  the  rocks  which  are  just  at  the  water's  level 
and  awash,  so  as  to  be  covered  and  uncovered  as  the  surf  rolls  in.  On  the  bare  summit  of  these  wave  worn  spots, 
they  will  struggle  and  clamber  in  groups  of  a  dozen  or  two  at  a  time  throughout  the  whole  day,  in  endeavoring  to 
]iush  off  that  one  of  their  number  which  has  just  been  fortunate  enough  to  secure  a  landing;  the  successor  has, 
however,  but  a  brief  moment  of  exultation  in  victory,  for  the  next  roller  that  comes  booming  in,  together  with  the 
pressure  by  its  friends,  turns  the  table,  and  the  game  is  repeated,  with  another  seal  on  top.  Sometimes,  as  well  as  I 
could  see,  the  same  squad  of  "holluschiekie"  played  for  a  whole  day  and  night,  without  a  moment's  cessation,  around 
such  a  rock  as  this,  off  "  Xah  Speel"  rookery;  but  in  this  observation  I  may  be  mistaken,  because  the  seals  cannot 
be  told  apart. 

SEALS  AMONG  THE  BREAKERS. — The  graceful  unconcern  with  which  the  fur-seal  sports  safely  in,  among,  and 
under  booming  breakers,  during  the  prevalence  of  the  numerous  heavy  gales  at  the  islands,  has  afforded  me  many 
consecutive  hours  of  spell-bound  attention  to  them,  absorbed  iu  watching  their  adroit  evolutions  within  the 
framing  surf,  that  seemingly,  every  moment,  would,  in  its  fierce  convulsions,  dash  these  hardy  swimmers,  stunned 
and  lifeless,  against  the  iron-bound  foundations  of  the  shore,  which  alone  checked  the  furious  rush  of  the  waves. 
Not  at  all.  Through  the  widest  and  most  ungovernable  mood  of  the  roaring  tempest  and  storm-tossed  waters 
attending  its  transit,  I  never  failed,  on  creeping  out,  and  peering  over  the  bluffs,  in  such  weather,  to  see  squads  of 
these  perfect  watermen — the  most  expert  of  all  amphibians — gamboling  in  the  seething,  creamy  wake  of  mighty 
rollers,  which  constantly  broke  in  thunder  tones  over  their  alert,  dodging  heads.  The  swift  succeeding  seas  seemed, 
every  instant,  to  poise  the  seals  at  the  very  verge  of  death.  Yet  the  Callorhinits,  exulting  in  his  skill  and  strength, 
bade  defiance  to  their  wrath,  and  continued  his  diversions. 

SWIMMING  FEATS  OF  THE  "BACHELORS". — The  "holluschickie  "are  the  champion  swimmers  of  all  the  seal-tribe; 
at  least,  when  in  the  water  around  the  islands,  they  do  nearly  every  fancy  tumble  and  turn  that  can  be  executed. 
The  grave  old  males  and  their  matronly  companions  seldom  indulge  in  any  extravagant  display,  as  do  these 
youngsters,  jumping  out  of  the  water  like  so  many  dolphins,  describing  beautiful  elliptic  curves  sheer  above 
its  surface,  rising  three  and  even  four  feet  from  the  sea,  with  the  back  slightly  arched,  the  fore-flippers  folded 
tightly  against  the  sides,  and  the  hinder  ones  extended  and  pressed  together  straight  out  behind,  plumping  in  head 
first,  to  reappear  in  the  same  manner,  after  an  interval  of  a  few  seconds  of  submarine  swimming,  like  the  flight  of  a 
bird,  on  their  course.  Sea-lions  and  hair-seals  never  jump  in  this  manner.  (See  note,  39,  O.) 

All  classes  will  invariably  make  these  dolphin-jumps,  when  they  are  surprised  or  are  driven  into  the  water, 
curiously  turning  their  heads  while  sailing  in  the  air,  between  the  "rises "and  "plumps",  to  take  a  look  at  the  cause 
of  their  disturbance.  They  all  swim  rapidly,  with  the  exception  of  the  pups,  and  may  be  said  to  dart  under  the 
water  with  the  velocity  of  a  bird  on  the  wing;  as  they  swim  they  are  invariably  submerged,  running  along 
horizontally  about  two  or  three  feet  below  the  surface,  guiding  their  course  with  the  hind-flippers  as  by  an  oar,  and 
propelling  themselves  solely  by  the  fore-feet,  rising  to  breathe  at  intervals  which  are  either  very  frequent  or  else 
so  wide  apart  that  it  is  impossible  to  see  the  speeding  animal  when  he  rises  a  second  time. 

How  long  they  can  remain  under  water  without  taking  a  fresh  breath,  is  a  problem  which  I  had  not  the  heart 
to  solve,  by  instituting  a  series  of  experiments  at  the  island ;  but  I  am  inclined  to  think  that,  if  the  truth  were  known 
in  regard  to  their  ability  of  going  without  rising  to  breathe,  it  would  be  considered  astounding.  On  this  point, 
however,  I  have  no  data  worth  discussing,  but  will  say  that,  in  all  their  swimming  which  I  have  h?id  a  chance  to 
study,  as  they  passed  under  the  water,  mirrored  to  my  eyes  from  the  bluff  above  by  the  whitish-colored  rocks  below 
the  rookery  waters  at  Gieat  Eastern  rookery.  1  have  not  been  able  to  satisfy  myself  how  they  used  their  long, 
flexible  hind-feet,  other  than  as  steering  media.  If  these  posterior  members  have  any  perceptible  motion,  it  is  so 
rapid  that  my  eye  is  not  quick  enough  to  catch  it;  but  the  fore-flippers,  however,  can  be  most  distinctly  seen,  as 
they  work  in  feathering  forward  and  sweeping  flatly  back,  opposed  to  the  water,  with  great  rapidity  and  energy. 
They  are  evidently  the  sole  propulsive  power  of  the  fur-seal  in  the  water,  as  they  are  its  main  fulcrum  and  lever 
combined,  for  progression  on  land.  I  icgret  that  the  shy  nature  of  the  hair-seal  never  allowed  me  to  btiuly  its 
swimming  motions,  but  it  seems  to  be  a  general  point  of  agreement  among  authorities  on  the  Pltocid<c,  that  all 
motion  in  water  by  them  arises  from  that  power  which  they  exert  and  apply  with  the  hind-feet.  So  far  as  my 
observations  on  the  hair-seal  go,  I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  this  opinion. 

All  their  movements  in  water,  whether  they  are  traveling  to  some  objective  point  or  are  in  sport,  are  quick 
and  joyous;  and  nothing  is  more  suggestive  of  intense  satisfaction  and  pure  physical  comfort,  than  is  that  spectacle 
which  we  can  see  every  August,  a  short  distance  out  at  sea  from  any  rookery  where  thousands  of  old  males  and 
females  are  idly  rolling  over  in  the  billows  side  by  side,  rubbing  and  scratching  with  their  fore-  and  hind-flippers, 
which  are  here  and  there  stuck  up  out  of  the  water  by  their  owners,  like  the  lateen-sails  of  the  Mediterranean 
feluccas,  or,  when  the  hind-flippers  are  presented,  like  a  "eat-o'  nine  tailsr.  They  sleep  in  the  water  a  great  deal, 
too,  more  than  is  generally  supposed,  showing  that  tbey  do  not  come  on  land  to  rest — very  clearly  not. 


46 


THE  FISHERIES.  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CLASSING  THE  "  HOLLUSCHICKIE  "  BY  AGE. — When  the  "  holluschickie "  are  up  on  land  they  can  be  readily 
separated  into  their  several  classes  as  to  age,  by  the  color  of  their  coats  ami  size,  when  noted,  namely,  the  yearlings, 
the  two,  three,  four,  and  five  years  old  males.  When  the  yearlings,  or  the  first  class,  haul  out,  they  are  dressed  just 
as  they  were  after  they  shed  their  pup-coats  and  took  on  the  second  covering,  during  the  previous  year  in  September 
and  October;  and  now,  as  they  come  out  in  the  spring  and  summer,  one  year  old,  the  males  and  females  cannot  be 
distinguished  apart,  either  by  color  or  size,  shape  or  action ;  the  yearlings  of  both  sexes  have  the  same  steel-gray 
backs  arid  white  stomachs,  and  are  alike  in  behavior  and  weight. 

Next  year  these  yearling  females,  which  are  now  trooping  out  with  the  youthful  males  on  the  hauling-grounds, 
•will  repair  to  the  rookeries,  while  their  male  companions  will  be  obliged  to  come  again  to  this  same  spot. 

SHEDDING  THE  HAIR:  STAGEY  SEALS. — About  the  15th  and  20th  of  every  August,  they  have  become 
perceptibly  "stagey",  or,  in  other  words,  their  hair  is  well  under  way  in  shedding.  All  classes,  with  the  exception 
of  the  pups,  go  through  this  process  at  this  time  every  year.  The  process  requires  about  six  weeks  between  the 
first  dropping  or  falling  out  of  the  old  over-hair,  and  its  lull  substitution  by  the  new.  This  takes  place,  as  a  rule, 
between  August  1  and  September  28. 

The  fur  is  shed,  but  it  is  so  shed  that  the  ability  of  the  seal  to  take  to  the  water  and  stay  there,  and  not  be 
physically  chilled  or  disturbed  during  the  process  of  molting,  is  never  imp  tired.  The  whole  surface  of  these 
extensive  breeding-grounds,  traversed  over  by  us  after  the  seals  had  gone,  was  literally  matted  with  Ihe  shed 
hair  and  fur.  This  under-fur  or  pelage  is,  however,  so  fine  and  delicate,  and  so  much  concealed  and  shaded  by  the 
coarser  over-hair,  that  a  careless  eye  or  a  superficial  observer  might  be  pardoned  in  failing  to  notice  the  i'act  of  its 
dropping  and  renewal. 

The  yearling  cows  retain  the  colors  of  the  old  coat  in  the  new,  when  they  shed  it  for  the  first  time,  and  from 
that  time  on,  year  after  year,  as  they  live  and  grow  old.  The  young  three-ycai'-olds  and  the  older  cows  look  exactly 
alike,  as  far  as  color  goes,  when  they  haul  up  at  first  and  dry  out  on  the  rookeries,  every  June  and  July. 

The  yearling  males,  however,  make  a  radical  change  when  they  shed  for  the  first  time,  for  they  come  out  from 
their  "stagiuess"  in  a  nearly  uniform  dark  gray,  and  gray  and  black  mixed,  and  lighter,  with  dark  ocher  to  whitish 
on  the  upper  and  under  parts,  respectively.  This  coat,  next  year,  when  they  appear  as  two-year-olds,  shedding  for 
the  three-year-old  coat,  is  a  very  much  darker  gray,  and  so  on  to  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  season ;  then  after  this, 
with  age,  they  begin  to  grow  more  gray  and  brown,  with  rufous-ocher  and  whitish-tipped  over-hair  on  the  shoulders. 
Some  of  the  very  old  bulls  change  in  their  declining  years  to  a  uniform  shade  all  over  of  dull-grayish  ocher.  The 
full  glory  and  beauty  of  the  seal's  moustache  is  denied  to  him  until  he  has  attained  his  seventh  or  eighth  year. 

COMPARATIVE  SIZE  OF  FEMALES  AND  MALES. — The  female  does  not  get  her  full  growth  and  weight  until  the 
end  of  her  fourth  year,  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  but  she  does  most  of  her  growing  longitudinally  in  the  first  two; 
after  she  has  passed  her  fourth  and  fifth  years,  she  weighs  from  30  to  50  pounds  more  than  she  did  in  the  days  of 
her  youthful  maternity. 

The  male  does  not  get  his  full  growth  and  weight  until  the  close  of  his  seventh  year,  but  realizes  most  of  it, 
osteologically  speaking,  by  the  end  of  the  fifth;  and  from  this  it  may  be  perhaps  truly  inferred,  that  the  male  seals 
live  to  an  average  age  of  eighteen  or  twenty  years,  if  undisturbed  in  a  normal  condition,  and  that  the  females 
attain  ten  or  twelve  seasons  under  the  same  favorable  circumstances.  Their  respective  weights,  when  fully  mature 
and  fat  in  the  spring,  will,  in  regard  to  the  male,  strike  an  average  of  from  four  to  five  hundred  pounds,  while  the 
females  will  show  a  mean  of  from  70  to  80  pounds. 

I  did  not  permit  myself  to  fall  into  error  in  estimating  this  matter  of  weight,  because  I  early  found  that 
the  apparent  huge  bulk  of  a  sea  lion  bull  or  fur-seal  male,  when  placed  upon  the  scales,  shrank  far  below  my 
notions :  I  toek  a  great  deal  of  pains,  on  several  occasions,  during  the  killing-season,  to  have  a  platform 
scale  carted  out  into  the  field,  and  as  the  seals  were  knocked  clown,  and  before  they  were  bled,  I  had  them  carefully 
weighed,  constructing  the  following  table  from  my  observations : 

TABLE  SHOWING  THE  WEIGHT,  SIZE,  AND  GROWTH  OF  THE  FUR-SEAL  (CALLORHINUS  URSINUS),  FROM  THE  PUP 

TO  THE  ADULT,  MALE  AND  FEMALE. 


Age. 

Length. 

Girth. 

Gross 
weight  of 
body. 

Weipht  of 
skin. 

Remarks. 

Inches. 
12  to  14 

Inches. 
10  to  K1.'. 

Pounds. 
6  to  7J 

Pounds. 

24 

25 

39 

3 

38 

25 

39 

4i 

45 

30 

58 

6* 

52 

3g 

87 

7 

Four  years  

58 

42 

135 

12 

63 

52 

200 

16 

Six  years  

72 

G4 

280 

25 

75  to  80 

70  to  75 

400  to  500 

45  to  50 

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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKAX^^oA  47 


WEIGHT  OF  FEMALE  SEALS. — The  adult  females  will  correspond  with  the  three  years  old  males  in  the  above 
table,  the  younger  cows  weighing  frequently  only  75  pounds,  and  many  of  the  older  ones  going  as  high  as  120,  but 
an  average  of  80  to  85  pounds  is  the  rule.  Those  specimens  of  the  females  which  I  weighed  were  examples  taken 
by  me  for  transmission  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  otherwise  T  should  not  have  been  permitted  to  make  this 
record  of  their  weight,  inasmuch  as  weighing  them  means  to  kill  them ;  and  the  law  aud  the  habit,  or  rather  the 
prejudice  of  the  entire  community  up  there,  is  unanimously  in  opposition  to  any  such  proceeding,  for  they  never  touch 
females  here,  aud  never  set  their  foot  on  or  near  the  breeding-grounds  on  such  an  errand.  It  will  be  noticed,  also, 
that  I  have  no  statement  of  the  weights  of  these  exceedingly  lat  and  heavy  males  which  first  appear  on  the  breeding- 
grounds  in  the  spring;  those  which  I  have  referred  to,  in  the  table  above  given,  were  very  much  heavier  at  the 
time  of  their  first  appearance  in  May  and  June,  than  at  the  moment  when  they  were  in  my  hands,  in  July ;  but 
the  cows,  aud  the  other  classes,  do  not  sustain  protracted  fasting,  and  therefore  their  weights  may  be  considered 
substantially  the  same  throughout  the  year. 

CHANGE  JN  WEIGHT. — Thus,  from  the  fact  that  all  the  young  seals  and  females  do  not  change  much  in  weight 
from  the  time  of  their  first  coming  out  in  the  spring,  till  that  of  their  leaving  in  the  fall  and  early  winter,  I  feel 
sale  in  saying  that  they  feed  at  irregular  but  not  long  intervals,  during  the  time  that  they  are  here  under  our 
observation,  since  they  are  constantly  changing  from  laud  to  water  and  from  water  to  land,  day  in  and  day  out.  I 
do  not  think  that  the  young  males  fast  longer  than  a  week  or  ten  days  at  a  time,  as  a  rule. 

DISPEBSAL  OF  THE  "HOLLTjscHiciUE". — By  the  end  of  October  and  the  10th  of  November,  the  great  mass  of 
the  "  holluscbickie",  the  trooping  myriads  of  English  bay,  Southwest  point,  Beef  parade,  Lnkannon  sands,  the  table. 
hinds  of  Polavina,  and  the  mighty  hosts  of  Novastoshnah,  at  St.  Paul,  together  with  the  quota  of  St.  George,  had 
taken  their  departure  from  its  shores,  and  had  gone  out  to  sea,  spreading  with  the  receding  schools  of  fish  that  were 
now  returning  to  the  deep  waters  of  the  North  Pacific,  where,  in  that  vast  expanse,  over  which  rolls  an  unbroken 
billow,  5,000  miles  from  Japan  to  Oregon,  they  spend  the  winter  and  the  early  spring,  until  they  reappear  and 
break  up,  with  their  exuberant  life,  the  dreary  winter-isolation  of  the  land  which  gave  them  birth. 

TASTE  OF  THE  SEALS  IN  THE  MATTER,  OF  WEATHER. — A  few  stragglers  remain,  however,  as  late  as  the  snow 
and  ice  will  permit  them  to,  in  and  after  December;  they  are  all  down  by  the  water's  edge  then,  and  haul  up 
entirely  on  the  rocky  beaches,  deserting  the  sand  altogether;  but  the  first  snow  that  falls  makes  them  very  uneasy, 
and  I  have  seen  a  large  hauliug-ground  so  disturbed  by  a  rainy  day  and  night,  that  its  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
occupants  fairly  deserted  it.  The  fur  seal  cannot  bear,  and  will  not  endure,  the  spattering  of  sand  into  its  eyes, 
which  always  accompanies  the  driving  of  a  rain-storm;  they  take  to  the  water,  to  reappear  when  the  nuisance 
shall  be  abated. 

The  weather  in  which  the  fur  seal  delights  is  cool,  moist,  foggy,  and  thick  enough  to  keep  the  sun  always 
obscured,  so  as  to  cast  no  shadows.  Such  weather,  which  is  the  normal  weather  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George, 
continued  for  a  few  weeks  in  June  and  July,  brings  up  from  the  sea  millions  of  fur-seals.  But,  as  I  have  before 
said,  a  little  sunshine,  which  raises  the  temperature  as  high  as  50°  to  55°  Fahr.,  will  send  them  back  from  the 
hauling  grounds  almost  as  quickly  as  they  came.  Fortunately,these  warm,  sunny  days  on  the  Pribj'lov  islands  are 
so  rare  that  the  seals  certainly  can  have  no  ground  of  complaint,  even  if  we  may  .presume  they  have  any  at  all. 
Some  curious  facts  in  regard  to  their  selection  of  certain  localities  on  these  islands,  and  their  abandonment  of  others, 
I  will  discuss  in  a  succeeding  chapter,  descriptive  of  the  rookeries ;  this  chapter  is  illustrated  by  topographical 
surve\  s  made  by  myself. 

ALBINOS. — I  looked  everywhere  and  constantly,  when  treading  my  way  over  acres  of  ground  which  were 
fairly  covered  with  seal-pups,  aud  older  ones,  for  specimens  that  presented  some  abnormity,  that  is,  monstrosities, 
albinos,  etc.,  such  as  I  have  seen  in  our  great  herds  of  stock  ;  but  I  was,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  unable  to  note 
anything  of  the  kind.  I  have  never  seen  any  malformations  or  "  monsters"  among  the  pups  and  other  classes  of 
the  fur-seals,  nor  have  the  natives  recorded  anything  of  the  kind,  so  far  as  I  could  ascertain  from  them.  I  saw 
only  three  albino  pups  among  the  multitudes  on  St.  Paul,  and  none  on  St.  George.  They  did  not  differ,  in  any 
respect,  fiom  the  normal  pups  in  size  and  shape.  Their  hair,  for  the  first  coat,  was  a  dull  ocher  all  over;  the  fur 
whitish,  changing  to  a  rich  brown,  the  normal  hue ;  the  flippers  and  muzzle  were  a  pinkish  flesh-tone  in  color,  and 
the  iris  of  the  eye  sky-blue.  When  they  shed  the  following  year,  they  are  said  to  have  a  dirty,  yellowish -white 
color,  which  makes  them  exceedingly  conspicuous  when  mixed  in  among  a  vast  majority  of  black  pups,  gray 
yearlings,  and  "holluschickie"  of  their  kind.  (See  note,  39,  O.) 

WIIEKE  BO  THE  SEALS  DIE  I — It  is  perfectly  evident  that  a  large  percentage  of  this  immense  number  of  seals 
must  die  every  year  fiom  natural  limitation  of  life.  They  do  not  die  on  these  islands;  that  much  I  am  certain  of. 
2S"«t  one  dying  a  natural  death  could  I  find  or  hear  of  on  the  grounds;  they  evidently  lose  their  lives  at  sea, 
preferring  to  sink  with  the  rigor  mortis  into  the  cold,  blue  depths  of  the  great  Pacific,  or  beneath  the  green  waves 
of  Bering  sea,  rather  ihan  to  encumber  aud  disfigure  their  summer  haunts  on  the  Pribylov  islands. 


48  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

11.  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  FUR-SEAL  ROOKERIES  OF  ST.  PAUL   AND  ST.  GEORGE. 

DEARTH  OF  INFORMATION  CONCERNING  THE  FACTS  ABOTJT  THE  ROOKERIES.— Before  I  c;m  intelligently 
and  clearly  present  an  accurate  estimate  of  the  aggregate  number  of  fur-seals  which  appear  upon  those  great 
breeding-grounds  of  the  Pribylov  group  every  season,  I  must  take  up,  in  regular  sequence,  my  surveys  of  these 
remarkable  rookeries  which  I  have  illustrated  in  this  memoir  by  the  accompanying  sketch-maps,  showing 
topographically  the  superficial  area  and  distribution  assumed  by  the  seal-life  at  each  locality. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  the  sum  total  on  St.  Paul  island  preponderates,  and  completely  overshadows  that 
which  is  represented  at  St.  George.  Before  passing  to  the  detailed  discussion  of  each  rookery,  it  is  well  to  call 
attention  to  a  few  salient  features  in  regard  to  the  present  appearance  of  the  seals  on  these  breeding-grounds,  which 
latter  are  of  their  own  selection.  Touching  the  location  of  the  fur-seals  to-day,  as  I  have  recorded  and  surveyed  it, 
compared  with  their  distribution  in  early  times,  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  there  is  not  a  single  line  on  a  chart,  or  a 
word  printed  in  a  book,  or  a  note  made  in  manuscript,  which  refers  to  this  all-iinportaut  subject,  prior  to  my  own 
work,  which  I  present  herewith  for  the  first  time  to  the  public.  The  absence  of  definite  information  in  regard  to 
what  1  conceive  to  be  of  vital  interest  and  importance  to  the  whole  business,  astonished  me;  I  could  not  at  first 
believe  it;  and,  for  the  last  four  or  five  years,  I  have  been  searching  among  the  archives  of  the  old  Russian 
company,  as  I  searched  diligently  when  up  there,  and  elsewhere  in  the  territory  of  Alaska,  for  some  evidence  iu 
contradiction  of  this  statement  which  I  have  just  made.  I  wanted  to  (hid — I  hoped  to  discover — some  old  record, , 
some  clue,  by  which  I  could  measure  with  authority  and  entire  satisfaction  to  my  own  mind,  the  relative  volume  of 
seal  life  in  the  past,  as  compared  with  that  which  I  record  in  the  present,  but  was  disappointed. 

I  am  unable,  throughout  the  whole  of  the  following  discussion,  to  cite  a  single  reliable  statement  which  can 
give  any  idea  as  to  the  condition  and  numbers  of  the  fur-seal  on  these  islands,  when  they  were  discovered  in  178G-'87, 
or  during  the  whole  time  of  their  occupation  since,  up  to  the  date  of  my  arrival.  I  mark  this  so  conspicuously, 
for  it  is  certainly  a  very  strange  oversight,  a  kind  of  neglect,  which,  in  my  opinion,  has  been,  to  say  the  least, 
inexcusable. 

RUSSIAN  RECORDS. — In  attempting  to  form  an  approximate  conception  of  what  the  seals  were  or  might 
have  been  in  those  early  days,  as  they  spread  themselves  over  the  hauling-  and  breeding-grounds  of  these  remarkable 
islands,  I  have  been  thrown  entirely  upon  the  vague  statements  given  to  me  by  the  natives  and  one  or  two  of  the 
first  American  pioneers  in  Alaska.  The  only  Russian  record  which  touches  ever  so  lightly  upon  the  subject* 
contains  the  remarkable  statement,  which  is,  in  the  light  of  my  surveys,  simply  ridiculous  now,  that  is,  that  the 
number  of  fur-seals  on  St.  George  during  the  first  years  of  Russian  occupation,  was  nearly  as  great  as  that  on  St. 
Paul.  The  most  superficial  examination  of  the  geological  character  portrayed  on  the  accompanying  maps  of 
these  two  islands,  will  satisfy  any  unprejudiced  mind  as  to  the  total  error  of  such  a  statement.  Why,  a  mere  tithe  only 
of  the  multitudes  which  repair  to  St.  Paul,  in  perfect  comfort,  over  the  sixteen  to  twenty  miles  of  splendid  landing- 
ground  found  thereon,  could  visit  St.  George,  when  all  of  the  coast-line  fit  for  their  reception  at  this  island,  is 
a  scant  two  and  a  half  miles;  but  for  that  matter  there  was,  at  the  time  of  my  arrival  and  in  the  beginning  of  my 
investigation,  a  score  of  equally  wild  and  incredible  legends  afloat  in  regard  to  the  rookeries  on  St.  Paul  and  St. 
George.  Finding,  therefore,  that  the  whole  work  must  be  undertaken  de  noi-o,  I  set  about  it  without  further  delay. 

IMMENSE  MORTALITY  OF  THE  SEALS  IN  1836.— Prior  to  the  year  1835,  no  native  on  the  islands  seemed  to 
have  any  direct  knowledge  or  was  acquainted  with  a  legendary  tradition  even,  in  relation  to  the  seals,  concerning 
their  area  and  distribution  on  the  land  here;  but  they  all  chimed  in  after  that  date  with  great  unanimity,  saying 
that  the  winter  preceding  this  season  (1835-'3C)  was  one  of  frightful  severity;  that  many  of  their  ancestors  who  had 
lived  on  these  islands  in  large  barraboras  just  back  of  the  Black  bluffs,  near  the  present  village,  and  at  Polavina, 
then  perished  miserably. 

They  say  that  the  cold  continued  far  into  the  summer;  that  immense  masses  of  clearer  and  stronger  ice- 
floes than  had  ever  been  known  to  the  waters  about  the  islands,  or  were  ever  seen  since,  were  brought  down  and 


*  Veniamhiov  :  Zapieskie  ob  Oonalashkenskaho  Otdayla,  2  vols.,  St.  Petersburg,  1842.  This  work  of  Bishop  Innocent  Veniaminov  is 
the  only  one  which  the  Russians  can  lay  claim  to  as  exhibiting  anything  like  a  history  of  western  Alaska,  or  of  giving  a  sketch  of  its 
inhabitants  and  resources,  that  has  the  least  merit  of  truth,  or  the  faintest  stamp  of  reliability.  Without  it  we  should  be  simply  in  the 
dark  as  to  much  of  what  the  Russians  were  about  during  the  whole  period  of  their  occupation  and  possession  of  that  country.  He  served, 
chiefly  as  a  priest  and  missionary,  for  25  years,  from  1814  to  1839,  at  Ooualashka,  having  (ho  seal-islands  in  his  p-vrish,  and  was  made  bishop 
of  all  Alaska.  He  was  soon  after  recalled  to  Russia,  where  he  has  since  become  the  primate  of  (he  national  church,  ranking  second  to  no 
man  in  the  empire,  save  the  czar;  lie  is  advanced  in  years,  being  now  more  than  90  years  of  age.  He  must  have  been  a  man  of  tine  personal 
appearance,  judging  from  the  following  description  of  him,  noted  by  Sir  George  Siu:]>Kc;n.  who  met  him  at  Sitka,  in  1842,  just  as  he  was 
about  to  embark  for  Russia:  "His  appearance,  to  which  1  have  already  alluded,  impresses  a  stranger  with  something  of  awe,  while  in 
further  intercourse,  the  gentleness  which  characterizes  his  every  word  and  deed,  inser.sibly  molds  reverence  into  love  ;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  his  talenls  and  attainments  are  such  as  to  be  woithy  of  his  exalted  station.  With  all  this,  the  bishop  is  sufficiently  a  man  of  the 
world  to  disdain  anything  like  cant.  His  conversation,  on  the  contrary,  teems  with  amusement  anil  instruction,  and  his  company  is 
much  prized  by  all  who  have  the  honor  of  his  acquaintance."  Such  is  the  poitiait  drawn  of  him  by  a  governor  of  the  Hudson's-  Bay 
Company.  [Veuiamiuov  died  since  the  above  note  was  written,  at  Moscow,  April  22,  1879. — H.  W.  E.] 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  49 

shoved  high  up  on  to  all  the  rookery-margins,  forming  an  icy  wall  completely  around  the  island,  looming  up  20  to 
30  i'eet  above  the  surf;  they  further  state  that  this  wall  did  not  melt  or  in  any  way  disappear  until  the  middle  or 
end  of  August,  1836. 

They  affirm  that  for  this  reason  the  fur-seals,  when  they  attempted  to  land,  according  to  their  habit  and  their 
necessity,  during  June  and  July,  were  unable  to  do  so  in  any  considerable  numbers.  The  females  were  compelled 
to  bring  forth  their  young  in  the  water  and  at  the  wet,  storm-beaten  snrf  margins,  which  caused  multitudes  of  the 
mothers  and  all  of  the  young  to  perish.  In  short,  the  result  was  a  virtual  annihilation  of  the  breeding-seals.  Hence, 
at  the  following  season,  only  a  spectral,  a  shadowy  imitation  of  past  times  could  be  observed  upon  the  seal-grounds 
of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George, 

On  the  Lagoon  rookery,  now  opposite  the  village  of  St.  Paul,  there  were  then  only  two  males,  with  a 
number  of  cows.  At  Nah  Speel,  close  by  and  right  under  the  village,  there  were  then  only  some  2,000;  this  the 
natives  know  because  they  counted  them.  On  Zapaduie  there  were  about  1.000  cows,  bulls,  and  pups;  at  Southwest 
point  there  were  none.  Two  small  rookeries  were  then  ou  the  north  shore  of  St.  Paul,  near  a  place  called 
"  Maroonitch";  and  there  were  seven  small  rookeries  running  round  Northeast  point,  but  on  all  of  these  there  were 
only  1,300  males,  females,  and  young;  and  this  number  includes  the  "  holluschickie",  which,  in  those  days,  lay  in 
among  the  breeding-seals,  there  being  so  few  old  males  that  they  were  gladly  permitted  to  do  so.  On  Polavina 
there  were  then  about  500  cows,  bulls,  pups,  and  "holluschickie";  on  Lukanuon  and  Keetavie  about  300;  but  on 
Keetavie  there  were  only  ten  bulls  and  so  few  young  males  lying  in  altogether,  that  these  old  natives,  as  they  told 
me.  took  no  note  of  them  on  the  rookeries  just  cited.  On  the  Reef,  in  Gorbotch,  were  about  1,000  only;  in  this 
number  last  mentioned  some  800  "holluschickie"  may  be  included,  which  lay  in  with  the  breeding-seals.  There 
wore  only  twenty  old  bulls  on  Gorbotch,  and  about  ten  old  males  on  the  Reef.  The  village  was  placed  on  its  present 
site  ten  years  prior  to  this  period  of  1835-'3G. 

Such,  briefly  and  succinctly,  is  the  sum  and  the  substance  of  all  information  which  I  could  gather  prior  to 
1835-'36;  and  while  I  do  not  entirely  credit  these  statements,  yet  the  earnest,  straightforward  agreement  of  the 
natives  has  impressed  me  so  that  I  narrate  it  here.  It  certainly  seems  as  though  this  enumeratiou  of  the  old 
Aleuts  was  painfully  short. 

Then,  again,  with  regard  to  the  probable  truth  of  the  foregoing  statement  of  the  natives,  perhaps  I  should  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  entire  sum  of  seal  life  in  183G,  as  given  by  them,  is  just  4,100,  of  all  classes,  distributed 
as  I  have  indicated  above.  Xow,  on  turning  to  Bishop  Veniaminov,  by  whom  was  published  the  only 
statement  of  any  kind  in  regard  to  the  killing  on  these  islands  from  1817  to  1S37,  the  year  when  he  finished  his 
work,*  I  find  that  lie  makes  a  record  of  slaughter  of  seals  in  the  year  183G,  of  4,052,  which  were  killed  mid 
taken  for  their  skins ;  but  if  the  natives'  statements  are  right,  then  only  50  seals  were  left  on  the  island  for  1837,  in 
which  year,  however,  4,220  were  again  killed,  according  to  the  bishop's  table,  according  to  which  there  was  also  a 
steady  increase  in  the  size  of  this  return  from  that  date  along  up  to  1850,  when  the  Russians  governed  their  catch 
by  the  market  alone,  always  having  more  seals  than  they  knew  what  to  do  with. 

Again,  in  this  connection,  the  natives  say  that  until  1847,  the  practice  on  these  islands  was  to  kill  indiscriminately 
both  females  and  males  for  skins;  but  after  this  year,  1847,  the  strict  respect  now  paid  to  the  breeding-seals, 
and  exemption  of  all  females,  was  enforced  for  the  first  time,  and  has  continued  up  to  date. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is,  frankly  stated,  nothing  to  guide  to  a  fair  or  even  an  approximate  estimate  as  to 
the  numbers  of  the  fur-seals  ou  these  two  islands,  prior  to  my  labor. 

MANNER  OF  COMPUTING  TUB  NUMBER  OF  SEALS. — After  a  careful  study  of  the  subject,  during  three  entire 
consecutive  seasons,  and  a  confirmatory  review  of  it  in  187G,  I  feel  confident  that  the  following  figures  and  surveys 
will,  upon  their  own  face,  speak  authoritatively  as  to  their  truthful  character. 

At  the  close  of  my  investigation,  during  the  first  season  of  my  labor  on  the  ground,  in  1872,  the  fact  became 
evident  that  the  breeding-seals  obeyed  implicitly  an  imperative  and  instinctive  natural  law  of  distribution;  a  law 
recognized  by  each  and  every  seal  upon  the  rookeries,  prompted  by  a  fine  consciousness  of  necessity  to  its  own 
well-being.  The  breeding-grounds  occupied  by  them  were,  therefore,  invariably  covered  by  the  seals  in  exact 
ratio,  greater  or  less,  as  the  area  upon  which  they  rested  was  larger  or  smaller.  They  always  covered  the  ground 
evenly,  never  crowding  in  at  one  place  here,  to  scatter  out  there.  The  seals  lie  just  as  thickly  together,  where  the 
rookery  is  boundless  in  its  eligible  area  to  their  rear  and  unoccupied  by  them,  as  they  do  in  the  little  strips  which 
are  abruptly  cut  off  and  narrowed  by  rocky  walls  behind.  For  instance,  on  a  rod  of  ground,  under  the  face  of 
bluffs  which  hemmed  it  in  to  the  land  from  the  sea,  there  are  just  as  many  seals,  no  more  and  no  less,  as  will  be 
found  on  any  other  rod  of  rookery-ground  throughout  the  whole  list,  great  and  small ;  always  exactly  so  many  seals, 
under  any  and  all  circumstances,  to  a  given  area  of  breeding-ground.  There  are  just  as  many  cows,  bulls,  and 
pups  on  a  square  rod  at  Xah  Spec!,  near  the  village,  where,  in  1874,  all  told,  there  were  only  seven  or  eight  thousand, 
as  there  are  on  any  square  roil  at  Xorlheast  point,  where  a  million  of  them  congregate. 

This  fact  being  determined,  it  is  evident  that,  just  in  proportion  as  the  breeding  grounds  of  the  fur-seal  ou 
these  islands  expand  or  contract  in  area  liom  their  present  dimensions,  the  seals  will  increase  or  diminish  in 
number. 

nli  Qoiiii!:u<likiMisl%:i])f>  Ofilnyl:i,  St.  Pi'tt<rsliui-jjr. 


50  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  discovery,  at  the  close  of  the  season  of  1872,  of  this  law  of  distribution,  gave  me  at  once  the  clue  I  was 
searching  for,  in  order  to  take  steps  by  which  I  could  arrive  at  a  sound  conclusion  as  to  the  entire  number  of 
seals  herding  ou  the  island. 

I  noticed,  and  time  has  confirmed  my  observation,  that  the  period  for  taking  these  boundaries  of  the  rookeries, 
so  as  to  show  this  exact  margin  of  expansion  at  the  week  of  its  greatest  volume,  or  when  they  are  as  full  as  they 
are  to  be  for  the  season,  is  between  the  10th  and  20th  of  July  every  year;  not  a  day  earlier,  and  not  many  days 
later.  After  the  20th  of  July  the  regular  system  of  compact,  even  organization  breaks  up.  The  seals  then  scatter 
out  in  pods  or  clusters,  the  pups  leading  the  way,  straying  far  back — the  same  number  instantly  covering  twice 
and  thrice  as  much  ground  as  they  did  the  day  or  week  before,  when  they  lay  in  solid  masses  and  were  marshaled 
on  the  rookery-ground  proper. 

There  is  no  more  difficulty  in  surveying  these  seal-margins  during  this  week  or  ten  days  in  July,  than  there 
is  in  drawing  sights  along  and  around  the  curbs  of  a  stone-fence  surrounding  a  field.  The  breeding-seals  remain 
perfectly  quiet  under  your  eyes  all  over  the  rookery,  and  almost  within  your  touch,  everywhere  on  the  outside  of 
their  territory  that  you  may  stand  or  walk.  The  margins  of  massed  life,  as  I  have  indicated  on  the  topographical 
surveys  of  these  breeding-grounds  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  are  as  clean  cut  and  as  well  defined  against  the  soil 
and  vegetation,  as  is  the  shading  on  my  maps.  There  is  not  the  least  difficulty  in  making  the  surveys,  and  in 
making  them  correctly. 

Now,  with  a  knowledge  of  the  superficial  area  of  these  breeding-grounds,  the  way  is  clearly  open  to  a  very 
interesting  calculation  as  to  the  number  of  far-seals  upon  them.  I  am  well  aware  of  the  fact,  when  I  enter 
upon  this  discussion,  that  I  cannot  claim  perfect  accuracy,  but,  as  shadowing  my  plan  of  thought  and  method  of 
computation,  I  propose  to  present  every  step  in  the  processes  which  have  guided  me  to  the  result. 

EOOKEEY-SPACE  OCCUPIED  BY  SINGLE  SEALS. — When  the  adult  males  and  females,  fifteen  or  twenty  of  the 
latter  to  every  one  of  the  former,  have  arrived  upon  the  rookery,  I  think  an  area  a  little  less  than  two  square  feet 
for  each^  female  may  be  considered  as  the  superficial  space  required  by  each  animal  with  regard  to  its  size  and 
in  obedience  to  its  habits;  and  this  limit  may  safely  be  said  to  be  over  the  mark.  Xow,  every  female,  or  cow, 
on  this  two  square  feet  space,  doubles  herself  by  bringing  forth  her  young;  and  in  a  few  days  or  a  week,  perhaps, 
after  its  birth,  the  cow  takes  to  the  water  to  wash  and  feed,  and  is  not  back  on  this  allotted  space  one-fourth  of 
the  time  again  during  the  season.  In  this  way,  is  it  not  clear  that  the  females  almost  double  their  number  on  the 
rookery  grounds,  without  causing  the  expansion  of  the  same  beyond  the  limits  that  would  be  actually  required,  did 
they  not  bear  any  young  at  all?  For  every  100,000  breeding-seals,  there  wilt  be  found  more  than  85,000  females, 
and  less  than  15,000  males;  and  in  a  few  weeks  after  the  landing  of  these  females,  they  will  show  for  themselves; 
that  is,  for  this  100,000,  fully  180,000  males,  females,  and  young  instead,  on  the  same  area  of  ground  occupied 
previously  to  the  birth  of  the  pups. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  perhaps  10  or  12  per  cent,  of  the  entire  number  of  females  were  yearlings  last 
season,  and  come  up  on  to  these  breeding-grounds  as  virgins  for  the  first  time  during  this  season — as  two-year 
old  cows ;  they  of  course  bear  no  young. 

The  males  being  treble  and  quadruple  the  physical  bulk  of  the  females,  require  about  four  feet  square  for  their 
use  of  this  same  rookery-ground,  but  as  they  are  less  thau  one-fifteenth  the  number  of  the  females,  much  less,  in 
fact,  they  therefore  occupy  only  one-eighth  of  the  space  over  the  breeding-ground,  where  we  have  located  the 
supposed  100,000 ;  this  surplus  area  of  the  males  is  also  more  than  balanced  and  equalized  by  the  15,000  or  20,000 
virgin  females  which  come  on  to  this  rookery  for  the  first  time  to  meet  the  males.  They  come,  rest  a  few  days  or  a 
week,  and  retire,  leaving  no  young  to  show  their  presence  on  the  ground. 

Takiug  all  these  points  into  consideration,  and  they  are  features  of  fact,  T  quite  safely  calculate  upon  an  average 
of  two  square  feet  to  every  animal,  big  and  little,  on  the  breeding-grounds,  as  the  initial  point  upon  which  to  base 
an  intelligent  computation  of  the  entire  number  of  seals  before  us.  Without  following  this  system  of  enumeration, 
a  person  may  look  over  these  swarming  m.vriads  between  Southwest  point  and  Novastoshnah,  guessing  vaguely  and 
wildly,  at  any  figure  from  one  million  up  to  ten  or  twelve  millions,  as  has  been  done  repeatedly.  How  few  people 
know  what  a  million  really  is;  it  is  very  easy  to  talk  of  a  million,  but  it  is  a  tedious  task  to  count  it  off,  and  makes 
one's  statements  as  to  "millions"  decidedly  more  conservative  after  the  labor  has  been  accomplished. 

BEVIEW  OP  THE  ROOKERIES  OF  ST.  PAUL. — Before  summing  up  the  grand  total,  I  shall  now,  in  sequence, 
review  each  one  of  the  several  rookeries  of  St.  Paul,  taking  them  in  their  order  as  they  occur,  going  north  from  the 
Beef  point.  The  accompanying  maps  show  the  exact  area  occupied  by  the  breeding-seals  and  their  young  in  the 
season  of  1874,  which  is  the  date  of  my  latest  field-work  on  the  Pribylov  islands. 

THE  BEEF  ROOKERY. — By  reference  first  to  the  general  map,  it  will  be  observed  that  this  large  breeding- 
ground,  on  that  grotesquely-shaped  neck  which  ends  in  the  Beef  point,  is  directly  contiguous  to  the  village — indeed, 
it  may  be  fairly  said  to  be  right  under  the  lee  of  the  houses  ou  the  hill.  It  is  one  of  the  most  striking  of  all  the 
rookeries,  owing  probably  to  the  fact  that  on  every  side  it  is  sharply  and  clearly  exposed  to  the  vision,  as  the, 
circuit  is  made  in  boats.  A  reach  of  very  beautiful  drifting  sand,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  village  hill  to  the  Beef 
bluff's,  separates  the  breeding-grounds  proper  from  the  habitations  of  the  people.  These  Zoltoi  sands  are,  however, 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


51 


a  famous  rendezvous  for  the  "  bolluschickie ",  and  from  them,  during  the  season,  the  natives  make  regular  drives, 
having  only  to  step  out  from  their  houses  in  the  morning  and  walk  but  a  few  rods  to  find  their  fur-bearing  quarry. 

Passing  over  the  sands  on  our  way  down 
to  the  point,  we  quickly  come  to  a  basaltic 
ridge  or  back-bone,  over  which  the  sand  has 
been  rifted  by  the  winds,  and  which  supports 
a  rank  and  luxuriant  growth  of  the  Elymus 
and  other  grasses,  with  beautiful  flowers.  A 
few  hundred  feet  farther  along  our  course 
brings  us  in  full  view,  as  we  look  to  the  south, 
of  one  of  the  most  entrancing  spectacles  which 
seals  afford  to  man.  We  look  down  upon  and 
along  a  grand  promenade-ground,  which  slopes 
gently  to  the  eastward,  and  trends  south- 
ward down  to  the  water  from  the  abrupt  walls 
bordering  on  the  sea  on  the  west,  over  a 
parade-plateau  as  smooth  as  the  floor  of  a  ball- 
room, 2,000  feet  in  length,  from  500  to  1,000 
feet  in  width,  over  which  multitudes  of  "hol- 
luschickie"  are  filing  in  long  strings,  or  de- 
ploying in  vast  platoons,  hundreds  abreast,  in 
an  unceasing  march  and  countermarch;  the 
breath  which  rises  into  the  cold  air  from  a 
hundred  thousand  hot  throats  hangs  like 
clouds  of  white  steam  in  the  gray  fog  itself ; 
indeed,  it  may  be  said  to  be  a  seal-fog  peculiar 
to  the  spot,  while  the  din,  the  roar  arising 
over  all.  defies  our  description. 

We  notice  to  our  right  and  to  our  left,  the 
immense  solid  masses  of  the  breeding-seals  at 
Gorbotch,  and  those  stretching  and  trending 
around  nearly  a  mile  from  our  feet,  far  around  to  the  Reef  point  below  and  opposite  the  parade-ground,  with  here 
and  there  a  neutral  passage  left  open  for  the  "holluschickie"  to  go  down  and  come  up  from  the  waves. 

The  adaptation  of  this  ground  of  the  lieef  rookery  to  the  requirements  of  the  seal  is  perfect.  It  so  lies  that  it 
falls  gently  from  its  high  Zoltoi  bay-margin  on  the  west  to  the  sea  on  the  east ;  and  upon  its  broad  expanse  not  a 
solitary  puddle  of  mud  spotting  is  to  be  seen,  though  everything  is  reeking  with  moisture,  and  the  fog  even  dissolve* 
into  faiu  as  we  view  the  scene.  Every  trace  of  vegetation  upon  this  parade  has  teen  obliterated ;  a  few  tufts  of 
grass,  capping  the  summits  of  those  rocky  hillocks,  indicated  on  the  eastern  and  middle  slope,  are  the  only  signs  of 
botanical  life  which  the  seals  have  suifered  to  remain. 

A  small  rock,  "S-cv:'.  ,ne  Kammiu,"  five  or  six  hundred  feet  right  to  the  southward  and  out  at  sea,  is  also 
covered  with  the  black  and  yellow  forms  of  fur-seals  and  sea  lions.  It  is  environed  by  shoal-reefs,  rough,  and  kelp- 
grown,  which  navigators  prudently  avoid. 

This  rookery  of  the  Keef  proper  has  4,01G  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  an  average  depth  of  150  feet,  making  ground 
for  301,000  breeding-seals  and  their  young.     Gorbotch  rookery  has  3,000  fe£t  of  sea-margin,  with  an  average  depth 
of  100  feet,  making  ground  lor  183,000  breeding-seals  and  their  young:  an  aggregate  for  this  great  Eeef  rookery  of 
484,000  breeding-seals  and  their  young.     Heavy  as  this  enumeration  is.  yet  the  aggregate  only  makes  the  Reef  - 
rookery  third  in  importance,  compared  with  the  others  which  we  are  yet  to  describe. 

LAGOON  ROOKERY. — We  now  pass  from  the  Reef  up  to  the  village,  where  one  naturally  would  not  expect  to 
find  breeding-seals  within  less  than  a  pistol-shot  from  the  natives'  houses;  but  it  is  a  fact,  nevertheless,  for  on 
looking  at  the  sketch  map  of  the  Lagoon  rookery  herewith  presented,  it  will  be  noticed  that  I  have  located  a  little 
gathering  of  breeding-seals  right  under  the  village  hill  to  the  westward  of  that  place  called  "Xah  Speel ".  This  is 
in  itself  au  insignificant  rookery  and  never  has  been  a  large  one,  though  it  is  one  of  the  oldest  on  the  island.  It 
is  only  interesting,  however,  superficially  so,  on  account  of  its  position,  and  the  fact  that  through  every  day  of  the 
season  half  the  population  of  the  entire  village  go  and  cojue  to  the  summit  of  the  bluff,  which  overhangs  it,  where 
they  peer  down  for  hours  at  a  time  upon  the  methods  and  evolutions  of  the  "kantickie"  below,  the  seals  themselves 
looking  up  with  intelligent  appreciation  cf  the  fact  that,  though  they  are  in  the  hands  of  man,  yet  he  is  wise  enough 
not  to  disturb  them  there  as  they  rest. 

If  at  Xah  Speel,  or  that  point  rounding  into  the  village  cove,  there  were  any  suitable  ground  for  a  rookery  to 
grow  upon  or  spread  over,  the  seals  would  doubtless  have  beeu  there  long  ago.  There  are,  however,  no  such 
natural  advantages  offered  them  ;  what  there  is  they  have  availed  themselves  of. 


REEF    ROOKERY 


52 


THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Shoal  RocKy  and.  all  arm 


i  LAGOON  RT 

N  Scale. 


Looking  from  the  village  across  the  cove  and  down  upon  the  Lagoon,  still  another  strange  contradiction 
appears — at  least  it  seems  a  natural  contradiction  to  one's  usual  ideas.  Here  we  see  the  Lagoon  rookery,  a 

reach  of  ground  upon  which  some  twenty-five  or  thirty 
thousand  breeding-seals  corne  out  regularly  every  year 
during  the  appointed  time,  and  go  through  their  whole 
elaborate  system  of  reproduction,  without  showing  the 
slightest  concern  for  or  attention  to  the  scene  directly 
east  of  them  and  across  that  shallow  slough  not  forty 
feet  in  width.  There  are  the  great  slaughtering  fields 
of  St.  Paul  island ;  there  are  the  sand-flats  where  every 
seal  has  been  slaughtered  for  years  upon  years  back, 
for  its  skin;  and  even  as  we  take  this  note,  forty  men 
are  standing  there  knocking  down  a  drove x)f  two  or 
three  thousand  "holluschickie"  for  the  day's  work, 
and  as  they  labor,  the  whacking  of  their  clubs  and  the 
sound  of  their  voices  must  be  as  plain  to  those  breeding- 
seals,  which  are  not  one  hundred  feet  from  them,  as  it  is 
to  us,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant !  In  addition  to  this 
enumeration  of  disturbances,  well  calculated  to  amaze, 
and  dismay,  and  drive  off  every  seal  within  its  influence, 
are  the  decaying  bodies  of  the  last  year's  catch — 75,000 
or  85,000  nuburied  carcasses — that  are  sloughing  away 
into  the  sand,  which  two  or  three  seasons  from  now,  nature  will,  in  its  infinite  charity,  cover  with  the  greenest  of 
all  green  grasses.  The  whitened  bones  and  grinning  skulls  of  over  3,000,000  seals  have  bleached  out  on  that 
slaughtering- spot,  and  are  buried  below  its  surface  now. 

Directly  under  the  north  face  of  the  Village  Hill,  where  it  falls  to  the  narrow  flat  between  its  feet  and  the 
Cove,  the  natives  have  sunk  a  well.  It  was  excavated  in  1857,  they  say,  and  subsequently  deepened  to  its  present 
condition,  in  1868.  It  is  twelve  feet  deep,  and  the  diggers  said  that  they  found  bones  of  the  sea-lion  and  fur-seal 
thickly  distributed  every  foot  down,  from  top  to  bottom;  how  much  lower  these  osteological  remains  of  pre-historic 
pinnipeds  can  be  found,  no  one  knows  as  yet;  the  water  here,  on  that  account,  has  never  been  fit  to  drink,  or  even 
to  cook  with;  but  being  soft,  was  and  is  used  by  the  natives  for  washing  clothes,  etc.  Most  likely,  it  records 
the  spot  where  the  Eussians,  during  the  heydays  of  their  early  occupation,  drove  the  unhappy  visitors  of  Nah 
Speel  to  slaughter.  There  is  no  Golgotha  known  to  man  elsewhere  in  the  world-  as  extensive  as  this  one  of  St. 
Paul. 

Yet,  the  natives  say  that  this  Lagoon  rookery  is  a  new  feature  in  the  distribution  of  the  seals  ;  that  when  the 
people  first  came  there  and  located  a  part  of  the  present  village,  in  1824  up  to  1847,  there  never  had  been  a 
"breeding  seal  on  that  Lagoon  rookery  of  to-day ;  so  they  have  hauled  up  here  from  a  small  beginning,  not  very  long 
ago,  until  they  have  attained  their  present  numerical  expansion,  in  spite  of  all  these  exhibitions  of  butchery  of  their 
kind,  executed  right  under  their  eyes,  and  in  full  knowledge  of  their  nostrils,  while  the  groans  and  low  inoauings  of 
their  stricken  species  stretched  out  beneath  the  clubs  of  the  sealers,  must  have  been  far  plainer  in  their  ears  than 
they  are  in  our  own. 

Still  they  come — they  multiply,  and  they  increase — knowing  so  well  that  they  belong  to  a  class  which  intelligent 
men  never  did  molest ;  to-day  at  least  they  must  know  it,  or  they  would  not  submit  to  these  manifestations  which 
we  have  just  cited,  so  close  to  their  knowledge. 

The  Lagoon  rookery,  however,  never  can  be  a  large  one  on  account  of  the  very  nature  of  the  ground  selected 
by  the  seals;  for  it  is  a  bar  simply  pushed  up  above  the  surf- wash  of  bowlders,  water- worn  and  rounded,  which  has 
almost  inclosed  and  cut  out  the  Lagoon  from  its  parent  sea.  In  my  opinion,  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  that 
estuary  will  be  another  inland  lake  of  St.  Paul,  walled  out  from  salt  water  and  freshened  by  rain  and  melting  suosr, 
as  are  the  other  pools,  -lakes,  and  lakelets  on  the  island. 

LUKANNON  AND  KEETAViE  KOOKERiES. — The  next  rookeries  in  order  can  be  found  at  Lukannon  and  Keetavie. 
Here  is  a  joint  blending  of  two  large  breeding-grounds,  their  continuity  broken  by  a  short  reach  of  sea-wall  right 
under  and  at  the  eastern  foot  of  Lnkaunou  hill.  The  appearance  of  these  rookeries  is  like  all  the  others,  peculiar 
to  themselves.  There  is  a  rounded,  swelling  hill,  at  the  foot  of  Lukannon  bay,  which  rises  perhaps  ICO  or  170  feet 
from  the  sea,  abruptly  at  the  point,  but  swelling  out,  gently  up  from  the  sand-dunes  in  Lukannon  bay,  to  its  summit 
at  the  northwest  and  south.  The  great  rookery  rests  upon  the  northern  slope.  Here  is  a  beautiful  adaptation  of 
the  finest  drainage,  with  a  profusion  of  those  rocky  nodules  scattered  everywhere  over  it,  upon  which  the  females 
so  delight  in  resting. 

Standing  on  the  bald  summit  of  Lukannon  hill,  we  turn  to  the  south,  and  look  over  Keetavie  point,  where 
another  large  aggregate  of  breeding  seals  rests  under  our  eye.  The  hill  falls  away  into  a  series  of  faintly  terraced 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA, 


53 


tables,  which  drop  down  to  a  flat  that  again  abruptly  descends  to  the  sea  at  Keetavie  point.  Between  us  and  the 
Keetavie  rookery  is  the  parade-ground  of  Lukannou,  a  sight  almost  as  grand  as  is  that  on  the  Reef  which  we 
have  feebly  attempted  to  portray.  The 
.•sand-dunes  to  the  west  and  to  the 
north  are  covered  with  the  most  lux- 
uriant grass,  abruptly  emarginated  by 
the  sharp  abrasion  of  the  hauliug-seals : 
this  is  shown  very  clearly  on  the  gen- 
eral map.  Keetavie  point  is  a  solid 
basaltic  shelf.  Lukaniion  hill,  the 
summit  of  it,  is  composed  of  volcanic 
tufa  and  cement,  with  irregular  cubes 
and  fragments  of  pure  basalt  scattered 
all  over  its  flipper-worn  slopes.  Lu- 
kaunon  proper  has  2,270  feet  of  sea- 
margin,  with  an  average  depth  of  150 
feet,  making  ground  for  170,000  breed- 
ing-seals and  their  young.  Keetavie 
rookery  has  2,200  feet  of  sea-margin, 
with  an  average  depth  of  150  feet,  mak- 
ing ground  for  165,000  breeding-seals 
and  their  young,  a  whole  aggregate  of 
335,000  breeding-seals  and  their  young. 
This  is  the  point,  down  along  the  flat 
shoals  of  Lukanuon  bay,  where  the 
sand  dunes  are  most  characteristic,  as 
they  rise  in  their  wind  whirled  forms 
just  above  the  surf- wash.  This  also  is 
where  the  natives  come  from  the  vil- 
lage during  the  early  mornings  of  the 
season,  for  driving,  to  get  any  number 
of  "holluschickie". 

It  is  a  beautiful  sight,  glancing 
from  the  summit  of  this  great  rookery - 
hill,  up  to  the  north  over  that  low  reach  of  the  coast  to  Tonkie  Mees,  where  the  waves  seem  to  roll  in  with  crests 
that  rise  in  unbroken  ridges  for  a  mile  in  length  each,  ere  they  break  so  grandly  and  uniformly  on  the  beach.  In 
.these  rollers  the  "holluschickie"  are  playing  like  sea-birds,  seeming  to  sport  the  most  joyously  at  the  very  moment 
when  tlie  heavy  billow  breaks  and  falls  upon  them. 

TOLSTOI  ROOKERY.— Directly  to  the  west  from  Lukannon,  up  along  and  around  the  head  of  the  Lagoon,  is  the 
seal-path  road  over  which  the  natives  bring  the  "hollus- 
chickie"  from  Tolstoi.  We  follow  this  and  take  up  our 
position  on  several  lofty  grass-grown  dunes,  close  to 
and  overlooking  another  rookery  of  great  size;  this  is 
Tolstoi. 

We  have  here  the  greatest  hill-slope  of  breeding- 
seals,  on  either  island,  peculiarly  massed  on  the  abruptly 
sloping  flanks  of  Tolstoi  ridge,  as  it  falls  to  the  sands 
of  English  bay,  and  ends  suddenly  in  the  precipitous 
termination  of  its  own  name,  Tolstoi  point.  Here  the 
seals  are  in  some  places  crowded  up  to  the  enormous 
depth  of  500  measured  feet,  from  the  sea-margin  of  the 
rookery  to  its  outer  boundary  and  limitation:  and,  when 
viewed  as  1  viewed  it  in  July,  taking  the  angles  and 
lines  shown  on  the  accompanying  sketch-map,  I  con- 
sidered it,  with  the  bluffs  terminating  it  at  the  south, 
and  its  bold  sweep,  which  ends  on  the  sands  of  English 
bay.  to  be  the  most  picturesque,  though  it  is  not  the 
most  impressive,  rookery  on  the  island — especially  when 
that  parade-ground,  lying  just  back  and  over  the  point  and  upon  its  table-rock  surface,  is  reached  by  the  climbing 
seals. 


LUKAM  N"ON  AND  KE  TAVIE 


ROOKERIES 


-3  X:.: 

;<"%; 


7?*^i:  -._  «_'_=*  ft  2.. 


,.  ifffe- 

\< 
^* 


TOLSTOI    ROOKERY 

Scale: 


54 


THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


If  the  observer  will  glance  at  the  map,  he  will  see  that  the  parade-ground  in  question  lies  directly  over  and 
about  150  feet  above,  the  breeding-seals  immediately  under  it.  The  sand-dune  tracts  which  border  the  great 
body  of  the  rookery  seem  to  check  the  "holluschickie"  from  hauling  to  the  rear,  for  sand  drifts  here,  in  a  locality  so 
high  and  exposed  to  the  full  force  of  the  wind,  with  more  rapidity  and  consequently  more  disagreeable  energy  to 
the  seals  than  anywhere  else  on  the  island. 

A  comical  feature  of  this  rookery  is  the  appearance  of  the  foxes  in  the  chinks  under  the  parade-ground  and 
interstices  of  the  cliffs;  their  melancholy  barking  and  short  yelps  of  astonishment,  as  we  \galk  about,  contrast  quite 
sensibly  with  the  utter  indifference  of  the  seals  to  our  presence.  . 

From  Tolstoi  at  this  point,  sweeping  around  three  miles  to  Zapadnie,  is  the  broad  sand-reach  of  English  bay, 
upon  which  and  back  over  its  gently  rising  flats  are  the  great  hauliug-grounds  of  the  "holluschickie",  which  I  have 
indicated  on  the  general  map,  and  to  which  I  made  reference  in  a  previous  section  of  this  chapter.  Looking  at  the 
myriads  of  "bachelor  seals"  spread  out  in  their  restless  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  thousands  upon  this  ground,  one 
feels  the  utter  impotency  of  verbal  description,  and  reluctantly  shuts  his  note-  and  sketch-books  to  gaze  upon 
it  with  renewed  fascination  and  perfect  helplessness. 

Tolstoi  rookery  has  attained,  I  think,  its  utmost  limit  of  expansion.  The  seals  have  already  pushed  themselves 
as  far  out  upon  the  sand  at  the  north  as  they  can  or  are  willing  to  go,  while  the  abrupt  cliffs,  hanging  over  more 
than  one-half  of  the  sea-margin,  shut  out  all  access  to  the  rear  for  the  breeding-seals.  The  natives  said  that 
this  rookery  had  increased  very  much  during  the  last  four  or  five  years  prior  to  the  date  of  my  making  the 
accompanying  survey.  If  it  continues  to  increase,  the  fact  can  be  instantly  noted,  by  checking  off  the  ground  and 
comparing  it  with  the  sketch-map  herewith  presented.  Tolstoi  rookery  has  3,000  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  an  average 
depth  of  150  feet,  making  ground  for  225,000  breeding-seals  and  their  young. 

ZAPADNIE  ROOKERY. — From  Tolstoi,  before  going  north,  we  turn  our  attention  directly  to  Zapadnie  on  the  west, 
a  little  over  two  miles  as  the  crow  flies,  across  English  bay,  which  lies  between  them.  Here  again  we  find  another 

magnificent  rookery,  with  features 
peculiar  to  itself,  consisting  of  great 
wings  separating,  one  from  the  other, 
by  a  short  stretch  of  five  or  six 
hundred  feet  of  the  shunned  sand- 
reach  which  makes  a  landing  and  a 
beach  just  between  them.  The  north- 
ern Zapadnie  lies  mostly  on  the  gently 
sloping,  but  exceedingly  rocky,  flats 
of  a  rough  volcanic  ridge  which  drops 
there  to  the  sea  ;  it,,  too,  has  an  ap- 
proximation to  the  Tolstoi  depth,  but 
not  to  such  a  solid  extent;  it  is  the 
one  rookery  which  I  have  reason  to 
believe  has  sensibly  increased  since 
my  first  survey  in  1872.  It  has  over- 
flowed from  the  boundary  which  I 
laid  down  at  that  time,  and  has  filled 
up  for  nearly  half  a  mile,  a  long  rib- 
bon-like strip  of  breeding-ground  to 
the  northeast  from  the  hill  slope,  end- 
ing at  a  point  where  a  few  detached 
rocks  jut  out,  and  the  sand  takes 
exclusive  possession  of  the  rest  of 
the  coast.  These  rocks  aforesaid  are 
called  by  the  natives  "]Sfearhpahskie 
kauimin",  because  it  is  a  favorite 
resoit  for  the  hair-seals.  Although 
this  extension  of  a  very  decided  mar- 
gin of  breeding-ground,  over  half  a 
mile  in  length,  between  1872  and 
1876,  does  not,  in  the  aggregate, 
point  to  a  very  large  increased  number,  still  it  is  a  gratifying  evidence  that  the  rookeries,  instead  of  tending  to 
diminish  in  the  slighest,  are  more  than  holding  their  own. 

Zapadnie,  in  itself,  is  something  like  the  Keef  plateau  on  its  eastern  face,  for  it  slopes  up  gradually  and  gently 
to  the  parade-plateau  on  top — a  parade-ground  not  so  smooth,  however,  being  very  rough  and  rocky,  but  which  the 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


55 


seals  enjoy.  Just  around  the  point,  a  low  reach  of  rocky  bar  and  beach  connects  it  with  the  ridge-walls  of  South- 
west point :  a  very  small  breeding-rookery,  so  small  that  it  is  not  worthy  of  a  survey,  is  located  here ;  I  think, 
probably,  on  account  of  the  nature  of  the  ground,  that  it  will  never  hold  its  own,  and  is  more  than  likely  abandoned 
by  this  time. 

One  of  the  prehistoric  villages,  the  village  of  Pribylov's  time,  was  established  here  between  the  point  and 
the  cemetery  ridge,  on  which  the  northern  wing  of  Zapadnie  rests.  The  old  burying-ground,  with  its  characteristic 
Russian  crosses  and  faded  pictures  of  the  saints,  is  plainly  marked  on  the  ridge.  It  was  at  this  little  bight  of  sandy 
landing  that  Pribylov's  men  first  came  ashore  and  took  possession  of  the  island,  while  others  in  the  same  season 
proceeded  to  Northeast  point  and  to  the  north  shore,  to  establish  settlements  of  their  own  order.  When  the 
indiscriminate  sealing  of  1868  was  in  progress,  one  of  the  parties  lived  here,  and  a  salt-house  which  was  then 
erected  by  them  still  stands;  it  is  in  a  very  fair  state  of  preservation,  although  it  has  never  been  since  occupied, 
except  by  the  natives  who  come  over  here  from  the  village  in  the  summer  to  pick  the  berries  of  the  Empetrum  and 
IZnbns,  which  abound  in  the  greatest  profusion  around  the  rough  and  rocky  flats  that  environ  the  little  adjacent  lake. 
The  young  people  of  St.  Paul  are  very  fond  of  this  berry  festival,  so  called  among  themselves,  and  they  stay  here 
every  August,  camping  out,  a  week  or  ten  days  at  a  time,  before  returning  to  their  homes  in  the  village. 

Zapadnie  rookery  has,  the  two  wings  included,  5,880  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  an  average  depth  of  150  feet, 
making  ground  for  441,000  breeding-seals  and  their  young,  being  the  second  rookery  on  the  island  as  to  size  and 
importance. 

The  "holluschickie"  that  sport  here  on  the  parade-plateau,  and  indeed  over  all  of  the  western  extent  of  the 
English  bay  hauling-grouuds,  have  never  been  visited  by  the  natives  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  killing  drives  since 
1872,  inasmuch  as  more  seals  than  were  wanted  have  always  been  procured  from  Zoltoi,  Lukauuou,  and  Lower  Tolstoi 
points,  which  are  all  very  close  to  the  village.  I  have  been  told,  since  making  this  survey,  that  during  the  past 
year  the  breeding-seals  of  Zapaduie  have  overflowed,  so  as  to  occupy  all  of  the  sand-strip  which  is  vacant  between 
them  on  the  accompanying  map. 

POLAVEVA  KOOKKRY. — Half-way  between  the  village  and  Northeast  point  lies  Polaviua,  another  one  of  the 
seven  large  breeding-grounds  on  this  island.  The  conspicuous  cone-shaped  head  of  Polavina  Sopka  rises  clearly 
cut  and  smooth  from  the  plateau  at  its  base, 
which  falls  two  miles  to  the  eastward  and 
southeastward,  sharp  off  into  the  sea,  present- 
ing a  bluff  morgin  over  a  mile  in  length,  at  the 
base  of  which  the  sea  thunders  incessantly.  It 
exhibits  a  very  beautiful  geological  section  of 
the  simple  structure  of  St.  Paul.  The  ringing, 
iron-like  basaltic  foundations  of  the  island  are 
here  setting  boldly  up  from  the  sea  to  a  height 
of  40  or  50  feet — black  and  purplish-red,  pol- 
ished like  eboiiy  by  the  friction  of  the  surf,  and 
worn  by  its  agency  into  grotesque  arches,  tiny 
caverns,  and  deep  fissures.  Surmounting  this 
lava-bed  is  a  cap  of  ferruginous  cement  and 
tufa  from  three  to  ten  feet  in  thickness,  making 
a  reddish  floor,  upon  which  the  seals  patter  in 
their  restless,  never-ceasing,  evolutions,  sleep- 
ing or  waking,  on  the  laud.  It  is  as  great  a 
single  parade-plateau  of  polished  cement  as 
that  of  the  lieef,  but  we  are  unable  from  any 
point  of  observation  to  appreciate  it,  inasmuch 
as  we  cannot  stand  high  enough  to  overlook  it, 
Unless  we  ascend  Polaviua  Sopka,  and  then  the 
distances,  with  the  perspective  fore-shortening, 
destroy  the  effect. 

The  rookery  itself  occupies  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  seal-visited  area  at  this  spot. 
It  is  placed  at  the  southern  termination,  and 
gentle  sloping  of  the  long  reach  of  bluff  wall, 
which  is  the  only  cliff  between  Lukannon  and 
Xovastoshnah.  It  presents  itself  to  the  eye. 
however,  in  a  very  peculiar  manner,  and  with 
great  scenic  effect,  when  the  observer  views  it  from  the  extreme  point  of  its  mural  elevation;  viewed  from  thence, 
nearly  a  mile  to  thu  northeast,  it  rises  as  a  front  of  bicolored  lava-wall,  high  above  the  sea  that  is  breaking  at  its 


POLA.VTNTA    ROOKERY 


56  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

base,  and  is  covered  with  the  infinite  detail  of  massed  seals  in  reproduction :  at  first  sight,  one  wonders  how  they 
got  there.  No  passages  whatever  can  be  seen,  down  or  up.  A  further  survey,  however,  discloses  the  common 
occurrence  of  rain-water  runs  between  surf-beaten  crevices,  which  make  many  stairways  for  the  adhesive  feet  of 
Callorhinus  amply  safe  and  comfortable. 

For  the  reason  cited  in  a  similar  example  at  Zapadnie,  no  "holluschickie"  have  been  driven  from  this  point  since 
1872,  though  it  is  one  of  the  easiest  worked.  It  was  in  the  Russian  times  a  pet  sealing-ground  with  them. 
The  remains  of  the  old  village  have  nearly  all  been  buried  in  the  sand  near  the  lake,  and  there  is  really  no  mark  of 
its  early  habitation,  unless  it  be  the  singular  effect  of  a  human  grave-yard  being  dug  out  and  despoiled  by  the 
attrition  of  seal  bodies  and  flippers.  The  old  cemetery  just  .above  and  to  the  right  of  the  barrabkie,  near  the 
little  lake,  was  originally  established,  so  the  natives  told  me,  far  away  from  the  hauling  of  the  "holluschickie"; 
it  was,  when  I  saw  it  in  1870,  in  a  melancholy  state  of  ruin — a  thousand  young  seals  at  least  moved  off'  from 
its  surface  as  I  came  up,  and  they  had  actually  trampled  out  many  sandy  graves,  rolling  the  bones  and  skulls  of 
Aleutian  ancestry  in  every  direction.  Beyond  this  old  barrabkie,  which  the  present  natives  established  as  a  house  of 
refuge  during  tfte  winter  whea  they  were  trapping  foxes,  looking  to  the  west  over  the  lake,  is  a  large  expanse  of  low, 
flat  swale  and  tundra,  which  is  terminated  by  the  rocky  ridge  of  Kaminista;  every  foot  of  it  has  been  placed  there 
subsequent  to  the  original  elevation  of  the  island  by  the  action  of  the  sea,  beyond  all  question.  It  is  covered  with 
a  thick  growth  of  the  rankest  sphagnum,  which  quakes  and  trembles  like  a  bog  under  one's  feet,  but  over  which 
the  most  beautiful  mosses  ever  and  anon  crop  out,  including  the  characteristic  floral  display  before  referred  to 
in  speaking  of  the  island ;  most  of  the  way  from  the  village  up  to  Northeast  point,  as  will  be  seen  by  a  cursory 
glance  at  the  map,  with  the  exception  of  this  bluff  of  Polavina  and  the  terraced  table  setting  back  from  its  face  to 
Polavina  Sopka,  the  whole  island  is  slightly  elevated  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  its  coast-line  is  lying  just 
above  and  beyond  the  reach  of  the  surf,  where  great  ledges  of  sand  have  been  piled  up  by  the  wind,  capped  with 
bheafs  and  tufts  of  rank-growing  Elymus. 

There  is  a  small  rookery,  which  I  call  "Little  Polavina",  indicated  here,  which  does  not  promise  much  for  the 
future;  the  sand  cuts  it  off  on  the  north,  and  sand  has  blown  around  so  at  its  rear,  as  to  make  all  other  ground  not 
now  occupied  by  the  breeding- seals  there  quite  ineligible.  Polavina  rookery  has  4,000  feet  of  sea-margin,  including 
Little  Polavina,  with  150  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for  300,000  breeding-seals  and  their  young. 

NORTHEAST  POINT  OR  NOVASTOSHNAH  KOOKEKY. — Though  this  is  the  last  of  the  St.  Paul  rookeries  which  I 
notice,  yet  it  is  so  much  greater  than  any  other  one  on  the  island,  or  two  others  for  that  matter,  that  it  forms  the 
central  feature  of  St.  Paul,  and  in  truth  presents  a  most  astonishing  and  extraordinary  sight.  It  was  a  view  of 
such  multitudes  of  amphibians,  when  I  first  stood  upon  the  summit  of  Hutchinsou  hill,  and  looked  at  the  immense 
spread  around  me,  that  suggested  to  my  mind  a  doubt  whether  the  accurate  investigation  which  I  was  making 
would. give  me  courage  to  maintain  the  truth  in  regard  to  the  subject. 

The  result  of  my  first  survey  here  presented  such  a  startling  array  of  superficial  area  massed  over  by 
the  breeding-seals,  that  I  was  fairly  disconcerted  at  the  magnitude  of  the  result.  It  troubled  me  so  when  my 
initial  plottings  were  made,  and  I  had  worked  them  out  so  as  to  place  them  tangibly  before  me,  that  I  laid  the  whole 
preliminary  survey  aside,  and  seizing  upon  the  next  favorable  day  went  over  the  entire  field  again.  The  two  plats 
then,  laid  side  by  side,  substantially  agreed,  and  I  now  present  the  great  rookery  to  the  public.  It  is  in  itself,  as  the 
others  are,  endowed  with  its  own  particular  physiognomy,  having  an  extensive  sweep,  everywhere  surrounded  by 
the  sea,  except  at  that  intersection  of  the  narrow  neck  of  sand  which  joins  it  to  the  main  island.  Hutchinson  hill 
is  the  foundation  of  the  point — a  solid  basaltic  floor,  upon  which  a  mass  of  breccia  has  been  poured  at  its  northwest 
corner,  which  is  so  rough,  and  yet  polished  so  highly  by  the  countless  pattering  flippers  of  its  A'isitors,  as  to  leave 
it  entirely  bare  and  bald  of  every  spear  of  grass  or  trace  of  cryptogamic  life.  The  hill  is  about  120  feet  high  ;  it 
has  a  rounded  summit  flecked  entirely  over  by  the  "holluschickie",  while  the  great  belt  of  breeding-rookery  sweeps 
high  up  on  its  flanks,  and  around  right  and  left,  for  nearly  three  and  a  half  miles  unbroken — an  amazing  sight 
in  its  aggregate,  and  infinite  in  its  detail. 

The  picturesque  feature,  also,  of  the  rookery  here,  is  the  appearance  of  the  tawny,  yellowish  bodies  of  several 
thousand  sea-lions,  which  lay  in  and  among  the  fur-seals  at  the  several  points  designated  on  the  sketch-map,  though 
never  far  from  the  water.  Sea-Lion  neck,  a  little  tongue  of  low  basaltic  jutting,  is  the  principal  corner  where  the 
natives  take  these  animals  from  when  they  capture  them  in  the  fall  for  their  hides  and  sinews.* 

Cross,  or  St.  John's,  hill,  which  rises  near  the  lake,  to  a  height  of  60  or  70  feet,  and  is  quite  a  land-mark  itself, 
is  a  perfect  cone  of  sand  entirely  covered  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  Elymus  ;  it  is  growing  constantly  higher  by 
the  fresh  deposit  brought  by  wind,  and  its  retention  by  the  annually  rising  grasses. 

At  this  point,  it  will  be  noticed,  there  is  a  salt-house,  and  here  is  the  killing-ground  for  Northeast  point,  where 
nineteen  or  twenty  thousand  "holluschickie"  are  disposed  of  for  their  skins  every  season  ;  their  carcasses  being  spread 
out  on  the  sand-dunes  between  the  foot  of  Cross  hill  and  Webster's  house;  a  squad  of  sealers  live  there  during  the 

"The  sea-lions  breed  on  no  one  of  the  other  rookeries  at  this  island,  the  insignificant  number  that  I  noticed  on  Seevitchio  Kammis 
excepted.  At  Southwest  point,  however,  I  found  a  small  sea-lion  rookery,  but  Iliere  are  no  breeding  fur-seals  there.  A  handful  of 
Eum«topias  used  to  breed  on  Otter  island,  but  do  not  now,  since  it  has  been  necessary  to  station  government  agents  there,  for  the 
apprehension  of  fur-seal  pirates,  during  the  sealing  season. 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


57 


three  or  four  weeks  that  they  are  engaged  in  the  work, 
grounds  on  the  sand-fiats  immediately 
adjacent  to  the  killing-grounds,  being  ob- 
tained without  the  slightest  difficulty. 

Here  also  was  the  site  of  a  village,  once 
the  largest  one  on  this  island  ere  its  trans- 
fer to  the  sole  control  and  charge  of  the 
old  Russian-American  Company,  ten  years 
alter  its  discovery  in  1787.  The  ancient 
cemetery  and  the  turf  lines  of  the  decayed 
barraboras  are  still  plainly  visible. 

The  couipany's-steainer  runs  np  here, 
watching  her  opportunity,  and  drops  her 
anchor,  as  indicated  on  the  general  chart, 
right  south  of  the  salt-house,  in  about  four 
fathoms  of  water;  and  the  skins  are  in- 
variably hustled  aboard,  no  time  being  lost, 
because  it  is  an  exceedingly  uncertain  place 
to  safely  load  the  vessel. 

There  is  no  impression  in  my  mind  really 
more  vivid,  than  is  the  one  which  was 
planted  there  during  the  afternoon  of  that 
July  day,  when  I  first  made  my  survey  of 
this  ground;  indeed,  whenever  I  pause  to 
think  of  the  subject,  the  great  rookery  of 
Jsovastoshnah  rises  promptly  to  my  view, 
and  I  am  fairly  rendered  voiceless  as  I  try 
to  speak  in  definition  of  the  spectacle.  In 
the  first  place,  this  slope  from  Sea  Lion 
neck  to  the  summit  of  Hutchiusou's  hill 


The  "holluschickie"  are  driven  from  the  large  hauling - 


Mclt 


NORTH    EAST    POINT 

Sc  ale : 


is  a  long  mile,  smooth  and  gradual  from  the  sea  to  the  hill-top ;  the  parade  ground  lying  between  is  also  nearly 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  width,  sheer  and  unbroken.  Now,  upon  that  area  before  my  eyes,  this  day  and  date  of 
which  I  have  spoken,  were  the  forms  of  not  less  than  three-fourths  of  a  million  seals — pause  a  moment — think 
of  the  number — three-fourths  of  a  million  seals  moving  in  one  solid  mass  from  sleep  to  frolicksome  gambols, 
backward,  forward,  over,  around,  changing  and  interchanging  their  heavy  squadrons,  until  the  whole  mind  is  so 
confused  and  charmed  by  the  vastness  of  mighty  hosts  that  it  refuses  to  analyze  any  further.  Then,  too,  I  remember 
that  the  day  was  one  of  exceeding  beauty  for  that  region ;  it  was  a  swift  alternation  over  head  of  those  characteristic 
rain  fogs,  between  the  succession  of  which  the  sun  breaks  out  with  transcendent  brilliancy  through  the  misty  halos 
about  it;  this  parade-field  reflected  the  light  like  a  mirror,  and  the  seals,  when  they  broke  apart  here  and  there  for 
a  moment,  just  enough  to  show  its  surface,  seemed  as  though  they  walked  upon  the  water.  What  a  scene  to  put 
upon  canvas — that  amphibian  host  involved  in  those  alternate  rainbow  lights  and  blue-gray  shadows  of  the  fog! 

RECAPITULATION  OF  THE  ESTIMATES  OF  NUMBER  OF  SEALS. — Below  is  a  recapitulation  of  these  figures  made 
from  my  surveys  of  the  area  and  position  of  the  breeding  grounds  of  St.  Paul  island,  between  the  10th  and  18th  of 
July,  1872,  confirmed  and  revised  to  that  date  in  1874.  It  is  the  first  survey  ever  made  on  the  island  of  its  rookeries: 


Breeding-grounds  of  the  fur-seal,  on  St.  Paul  island. 


Number  of 
seals,  iiiale, 
female,  and 
young. 


"Reef  rookery"  has  4,016  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  150  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

"Gorbotch  rookery"  has  3,660  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  100  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

"  Lagoon  rookery"  has  750  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  100  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

"Nah  Speel  rookery"  has  400  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  40  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

'•Lukanuou  rookery"  has  2,270  feet  of  sea  margin,  with  150  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

'•Keetavie  rookery"  has  2,200  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  150  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

"Tolstoi  rookery"  has  3,000  feet  of  sea  margin,  with  150  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

"Zapadnie  rookery"  has  5,880  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  15  i  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

"Polavina  rookery"  has  4,000  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  150  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

"Novastoshnah,  or  Northeast  point"  has  15,840  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  150  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

A  grand  total  of  breeding-seals  and  young  for  St.  Paul  island  in  1874  of 


301,000 

183,000 

37,000 

8,000 

170,000 

165,000 

225,000 

441,000 

300,000 

1,200,000 


3,030,000 


58 


THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


ST.  GEORGE. — St.  George  is  now  in  order,  and  this  island  has  only  a  trifling  contribution  for  the  grand  total  of 
the  seal-life ;  but  small  as  it  is,  it  is  of  much  value  and  interest.  Certainly  Pribylov,  not  knowing  of  the  existence 
of  St.  Paul,  was  as  well  satisfied  as  if  he  had  possessed  the  boundless  universe,  when  he  first  found  it.  As  in  the 
case  of  St.  Paul  island,  I  have  been  unable  to  learn  much  here  in  regard  to  the  early  status  of  the  rookeries,  none 
of  the  natives  having  any  real  information.  The  drift  of  their  sentiment  goes  to  show  that  there  never  was  a  great 
assemblage  of  fur-seals  on  St.  George ;  in  fact,  never  as  many  as  there  are  to-day,  insignificant  as  the  exhibit  is, 
compared  with  that  of  St.  Paul.  They  say  that,  at  first,  the  sea-lions  owned  this  island,  and  that  the  Eussians, 
becoming  cognizant  of  the  fact,  made  a  regular  business  of  driving  oif  the  "seevitchie",  in  order  that  the  fur-seals 
might  be  encouraged  to  land.  Touching  this  statement,  with  my  experience  on  St.  Paul,  where  there  is  no  conflict 
at  all  between  the  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  sea-lions  which  breed  around  on  the  outer  edge  of  the  seal-rookeries 
there,  and  at  Southwest  point,  I  cannot  agree  to  the  St.  George  legend.  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  however,  indeed  it 
is  more  than  probable,  that  there  were  a  great  many  more  sea-lions  on  and  about  St.  George  before  it  was  occupied 
by  men — a  hundred-fold  greater,  perhaps,  than  now ;  because,  a  sea-lion  is  an  exceedingly  timid,  cowardly  creature 
when  it  is  in  the  proximity  of  man,  and  will  always  desert  any  resting  place  where  it  is  constantly  brought  into 
contact  with  him.* 

The  scantiness  of  the  St.  George  rookeries,  is  due  to  the  configuration  of  the  island  itself.t  There  are  five 
separate,  well-defined  rookeries  on  St.  George,  as  follows  : — 

ZAPADNLE  ROOKERY. — Directly  across  the  island,  from  its  north  shore  to  Zapadnie  bay,  a  little  over  three 

miles  from  the  village,  is  a  point  where  the  southern 
bluff-walls  of  the  island  turn  north,  and  drop  quickly 
down  from  their  lofty  elevation  in  a  succession  of  heavy 
terraces,  to  an  expanse  of  rocky  flat,  bordered  by  a  sea 
sand-beach;  just  between  the  sand  beach,  however, 
and  these  terraces,  is  a  stretch  of  about  2,1)00  feet  of 
low,  rocky  shingle,  which  borders  the  flat  country  back 
of  it,  and  upon  which  the  surf  breaks  free  and  boldly. 
Midway  between  the  two  points  is  the  rookery ;  and  a 
small  detachment  of  it  rests  on  the  direct  sloping -of 
the  bluff  itself,  to  the  southward  ;  while  in  and  around 
the  rookery,  falling  back  to  some  distance,  the  "  hol- 
luschickie"  are  found. 

A  great  many  confusing  statements  have  been  made 
to  me- about  this  rookery — more  than  in  regard  to  any 
other  on  the  islands.  It  has  been  said,  with  much 
positiveness,  that,  in  the  times  of  the  Eussian  rule,  this 
was  an  immense  rookery  for  St.  George ;  or,  in  other 
words,  it  covered  the  entire  ground  between  that  low 
plateau  to  the  north  and  the  high  plateau  to  the  south, 
as  indicated  on  the  map;  and  it  is  also  cited  in  proof  of 
this  that  the  main  village  of  the  island,  for  many  years, 
thirty  or  forty,  was  placed  on  or  near  the  limited 
drifting  sand-dune  tracts  just  above  the  plateau,  to  the 
westward.  Be  the  case  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that  for 
a  great,  great  many  years  back,  no  such  rookery  has 
ever  existed  here.  When  seals  have  rested  on  a  chosen  piece  of  ground  to  breed,  they  wear  off  the  sharp  edges  of 
fractured  basaltic  bowlders,  and  polish  the  breccia  and  cement  between  them  so  thoroughly  and  so  finely  that  years 
and  years  of  chiseling  by  frost,  and  covering  by  lichens,  and  creeping  of  mosses,  will  be  required  to  efface  that  record. 
Hence  I  was  able,  acting  on  the  suggestion  of  the  natives  at  St.  Paul,  to  trace  out  those  deserted  fur-seal  rookeries 


*  This  statement  of  the  natives  has  a  strong  circumstantial  backing  by  the  published  account  of  Choris,  a  French  gentleman  of  leisure, 
and  amateur  naturalist  and  artist,  who  landed  at  St.  George  in  lrf'20  (July) ;  he  passed  several  days  off  and  on  the  land ;  he  wrote  at  short 
length  in  regard  to  the  sea-lion,  saying  "that  the  shores  were  covered  with  innumerable  troops  of  sea-lions.  The  odor  which  arose  from 
them  was  insupportable.  These  animals  were  all  the  time  rutting",  etc.,  yet  nowhere  does  he  speak  in  the  chapter,  or  elsewhere  in  his 
volume,  of  the  fur-seal  on  St.  George,  but  incidentally  remarks  that  over  on  St.  Paul  it  is  the  chief  animal  and  most  abundant. — Voyage 
J'ittoresque  an  tour  du  Monde,  lies  AleouVennes,  pp.  12, 13,  pi.  xiv.  1^22. 

Although  (his  writing  of  Choris  in  regard  to  the  subject  is  brief,  superficial,  and  indefinite,  yet  I  value  the  record  ho  made,  because  it 
isprlma  fade  evidence,  to  my  mind,  that  had  tho  fur-seal  been  nearly  as  numerous  on  St.  George  then  as  it  was  on  St.  Paul,  he  would  have 
Spoken  of  the  fact  surely,  inasmuch  as  he  was  searching  for  just  such  items  with  which  to  illuminate  his  projected  book  of  travels.  The 
old  Eussian  record  as  to  the  relative  number  of  fur-seals  on  the  two  islands  of  St.  George  and  St.  Paul  is  clearly  as  palpably  erroneous  for 
1820,  as  I  found  it  to  be  in  187-2, 1873.  No  intelligent  steps  toward  ascertaining  that  ratio  were  ever  taken  until  I  made  my  survey. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


59 


on  the  shores  of  that  island.  At  Maroonitch,  which  had,  according  to  their  account,  been  abandoned  for  over  sixty 
years  by  the  seals,  still,  at  their  prompting,  when  I  searched  the  shore,  I  found  the  old  boundaries  tolerably  well 
denned;  I  could  find  nothing  like  them  at  Zapadnie. 

Zapadnie  rookery  in  July,  1873,  had  600  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  00  feet  of  average  depth ;  making  ground  for 
18,000  breeding-seals  and  their  young.  lu  1874,  I  resurveyed  the  field  and  it  seemed  very  clear  to  me  that  there  had 
been  a  slight  increase,  perhaps  to  the  number  of  5,000,  according  to  the  expansion  of  the  superficial  area  over  that 
of  1873. 

From  Zapadnie  we  pass  to  the  north  shore,  where  all  the  other  rookeries  are  located,  with  the  village  at  a 
central  point  between  them  on  the  immediate  border  of  the  sea.  And,  in  connection  with  this  point,  it  is  interesting 
to  record  the  fact  that  every  year,  until  recently,  it  has  been  the  regular  habit  of  the  natives  to  drive  the 
"holluschickie"over  the  twoandahalf  or  three  miles  of  rough  basaltic  uplands  which  separate  the  hauling-ground 
of  Zapaduie  from  the  village;  driving  them  to  the  killing-grounds  there,  in  order  to  save  the  delay  and  trouble 
generally  experienced  in  loading  these  skins  in  the  open  bay.  The  prevailing  westerly  and  northwesterly  winds 
daring  July  and  August,  make  it,  for  weeks  at  a  time,  a  marine  impossibility  to  effect  a  landing  at  Zapadnie,  suitable 
for  the  safe  transit  of  cargo  to  the  steamer. 

This  three  miles  of  the  roughest  of  all 
rough  walks  that  can  be  imagined,  is  made 
by  the  fur-seals  in  about  seven  or  eight 
hours,  when  driven  by  the  Aleuts;  and,  the 
weather  is  cool  and  foggy.  I  have  known 
one  treasury  agent,  who,  after  making  the 
trip  from  the  village  to  Zapadnie,  seated 
himself  down  in  the  barrabkie  there,  and 
declared  that  no  money  would  induce  him  to 
walk  back  the  same  way  that  same  day — so 
severe  is  the  exercise  to  one  not  accustomed 
to  it;  but  it  exhibits  the  power  of  land-loco- 
motion possessed  by  the  "  holluschickie".* 

STAKE  Y  ATEEL  t. — This  rookery  is  the 
next  in  order,  and  it  is  the  most  remark- 
able one  on  St.  George,  lying  as  it  does  in 
a  bold  sweep  from  the  sea,  up  a  steeply 
inclined  slope  to  a  point  where  the  bluffs 
bordering  it  seaward  are  over  -400  feet  high; 
the  seals  being  just  as  closely  crowded  at 
the  summit  of  this  lofty  breeding  plat  as 
they  are  at  the  water's  edge ;  the  whole  ob 


STARRS  ATEEL. 

Scale: 


\ 


123  aso 


900ft. 


long  oval  on  the  side  hill,  as  designated  by  the  accompanying  survey,  is  covered  by  their  thickly  clustered  forms. 
It  is  a  strange  sight  also,  to  sail  under  these  bluffs  with  the  boat,  in  fair  weather,  for  a  landing;  and,  as  you  walk 
the  beach,  over  which  the  cliff  wall  frowns  a  sheer  500  feet,  there,  directly  over  your  head  the  craning  necks  and 
twisting  forms  of  the  restless  seals,  ever  and  anon,  as  you  glance  upward,  appear  as  if  ready  to  launch  out  and 
fall  below,  so  closely  and  boldly  do  they  press  the  very  edge  of  the  precipice.  J  There  is  a  low,  rocky  beach  to  the 

*  The  peculiarly  rough  character  to  this  trail  is  given  by  tjie  large,  loose,  sharp-edged  basaltic  bowlders,  which  are  strewn  thickly  over 
all  those  lower  plateau  that  bridge  the  island  between  the  high  bluffs  at  Starry  Ateel  and  the  slopes  of  Ahluckeyak  hill.  The  summits 
of  the  two  broader,  higher  plateaus,  east  and  west  respectively,  are  comparatively  smooth  and  easy  to  travel  over;  and  so  is  the  sea-level 
ll;it  at  Zapadnie  itself.  On  the  map  of  St.  George,  a  number  of  very  small  ponds  will  be  noticed ;  they  are  the  fresh-water  reservoirs  of 
the  island.  The  two  largest  of  these  are  near  the  summit  of  this  rough  divide  ;  the  seal-trail  from  Zapaduie  to  the  village  runs  just  west 
of  them,  and  comes  out  ou  the  north  shore,  a  little  to  the  eastward  of  the  haulmg-groiinds  of  Starry  Ateel,  where  it  forks  and  unites  with 
that  path.  The  direct  line  between  the  village  and  Zapaduie,  though  nearly  a  mile  shorter  on  the  chart,  is  equal  to  5  miles  more  of 
distance  by  reason  of  its  superlative  rocky  inequalities. 

t "  Starry  Ateel "  or  "  Old  Settlement" ;  a  few  hundred  yards  to  the  eastward  of  the  rookery,  is  the  earthen  ruins  of  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlements  in  Pribylov's  time,  and  which,  the  natives  say,  marks  the  first  spot  selected  by  the  Russians  for  their  village  after  the  discovery 
of  St.  George,  in  1786. 

{ I  have  been  repeatedly  astonished  at  the  amazing  power  possessed  by  the  fur-seal,  of  resistance  to  shocks  which  would  certainly 
kill  any  other  animal.  To  explain  clearly,  the  reader  will  observe,  by  reference  to  the  maps,  that  there  are  a  great  many  cliffy  places 
between  the.  rookeries  on  the  shore-lines  of  the  islands.  Some  of  these  cliffs  are  more  than  100  feet  in  abrupt  elevation  above  the 
surf  and  rocks  awash  below.  Frequently  "holluschickie  ".  in  ones,  or  twos,  or  threes  will  stray  far  away  back  from  the  great  masses 
of  their  kind,  and  fall  asleep  in  the  thick  grass  and  herbage  which  covers  these  innral  reaches.  Sometimes  they  will  lie  down  and  rest 
very  close  to  the  edge,  and  then  as  you  come  tramping  along  you  discover  and  startle  them  and  yourself  alike.  They,  blinded  by  their  first 
transports  of  alarm,  leap  promptly  over  the  brink,  snorting,  coughing,  and  spitting  as  they  go.  Curiously  peering  after  them  and 
looking  down  upon  the  rocks,  50  to  100  fett  below,  instead  of  seeing  their  stunned  and  motionless  bodies,  you  will  invariably  catch  sight  of 
them  rapidly  scrambling  into  tho  water;  and,  when  in  it,  swimming  oil  like  arrows  from  the  bow.  Three  "holluschickie''  were  thus 


60 


THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


LOW     PLATEAU 
Gmss,   <*n*l  very 


LOW 

P  L  ATEAU 

GI--CLSS 
aid  fioctly 


eastward  of  this  rookery,  over  which  the  "  holluschickie  "  haul  in  proportionate  numbers,  and  from  which  the  natives 
make  their  drives,  coming  from  the  village  for  this  purpose,  and  directing  the  seals  back,  in  their  tracks.*  Starry 

Ateel  has  500  feet  of  sea  and  cliff  margin, 
with  125  feet  of  average  depth,  making 
ground  for  30,420  breeding-seals  and 
their  young. 

NORTH  KOOKERY. — Next  in  order,  and 
half  a  mile  to  the  eastward,  is  this  breed- 
ing-ground, which  sweeps  for  2,750  fe«t 
along  and  around  the  sea  froutof  a  gently 
sloping  plateau ;  t  being  in  full  sight  of 
and  close  to  the  village.  It  has  a  super- 
ficial area  occupied  by  77,000  breeding- 
seals  and  their  young.  From  this  rook- 
ery to  the  village,  a  distance  of  less  than 
a,  quarter  of  a  mile,  the  "holluschickie" 
are  driven  which  are  killed  for  their 
skins,  on  the  common  track  or  seal-worn 
trail,  that,  not  only  the  "bachelors"  but 
ourselves  travel  over  en  route  to  and  from 
Starry  Ateel  and  Zapadnie;  it  is  a  broad, 
hard-packed  erosion  through  the  sphag- 
num, and  across  the  rocky  plateaux — in 
fact  a  regular  seal  road,  which  has  been 
used  by  the  drivers  and  victims  during 
the  last  eighty  or  ninety  years.  The 
fashion  on  St.  George,  in  this  matter  of 
driving  seals,  is  quite  different  from  that 
on  St.  Paul.  To  get  their  maximum  quota  of  25,000  annually,  it  is  necessary  for  the  natives  to  visit  every  morning 
the  hauling-grounds  of  each  one  of  these  four  rookeries  on  the  north  shore,  and  bring  what  they  may  find  back  with 
them  for  the  day. 

inadvertently  surprised  by  me  on  the  edge  of  the  west  face  to  Otter  island.  They  plunged  over  from  an  elevation,  there,  not  less  than 
200  feet  in  sheer  elevation,  and  I  distinctly  saw  them  fall  in  scrambling,  whirling  evolutions,  down,  thumping  upon  the  rocky  shingle 
beneath,  from  which  they  bounded,  as  they  struck,  like  so  many  rubber  balls.  Two  of  them  never  moved  after  the  rebound  ceased,  but 
the  third  one  reached  the  water  and  swam  away  like  a  bird  on  the  wing. 

While  they  seem  to  escape  without  bodily  injury  incident  to  such  hard  falls  as  ensue  from  dropping  50  or  60  feet  upon  pebbly  beaches  and 
rough  bowlders  below,  and  even  greater  elevations,  yet  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  some  internal  injuries  are  necessarily  sustained  in 
most  every  case,  which  soon  develop  and  cause  death ;  the  excitement  and  the  vitality  of  the  seal,  at  the  moment  of  the  terrific  shock, 
is  able  to  sustain  and  conceal  the  real  injury  for  the  time  being. 

*  Driving  the  "holluschickie"  on  St.  George,  owing  to  the  relative  scantiness  of  hauling  area  for  those  animals  there,  and  consequent 
small  numbers  found  upon  these  grounds  at  any  one  time,  is  a  very  arduous  series  of  daily  exercises  on  the  part  of  the  natives  who  attend 
to  it.  Glancing  at  the  map,  the  marked  considerable  distance,  over  an  exceedingly  rough  road,  will  be  noticed  between  Zapadnie  and 
the  village  ;  yet,  in  1872,  eleven  different  drives  across  the  island,  of  400  to  500  seals  each,  were  made  in  the  short  four  weeks  of  that  season. 

The  following  table  shows  plainly  the  striking  inferiority  of  the  seal-life,  as  to  aggregate  number,  on  this  island,  compared  with 
that  of  St.  Paul : 


NORTH  ROOKERY 

Scale-. 


Rookeries  of  St.  George. 

Number  of  drives 
made  in  1872. 

Number  of  seals 
driven. 

11 

5  194 

"Starry  Ateel"  (between  Juno  6  and  July  29)  

14 

5,274 

16 

4,818 

''Great  Eastern"  (between  Juno  o  and  July  28)      

16 

9,714 

The  same  activity  in  "sweeping"  the  hauling-grounds  of  St.  Paul  would  bring  in  ten  times  as  many  seals,  and  the  labor  be  vastly 
less;  the  driving  at  St.  Paul  is  generally  done  with  au  eye  to  securing  each  day  of  the  season  only  as  many  as  can  be  well  killed  and 
skinned  on  that  day,  according  as  it  be  warmish  or  cooler. 

tl  should  say  "a  gently  sloping  and  alternating  bluff  plateau";  2,000  feet  are  directly  under  the  abrupt  faces  of  low  cliffs,  while  the 
other  750  feet  slope  down  gradually  to  the  water's  edge ;  these  narrow  cliff  belts  of  breeding  fur-seals  might  be  properly  styled  "rookery 
ribbons". 


b  Hm.''^ 

C.A  pX-XXfcSiV 

£*•  VX»M&>       :  f 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


61 


Groat,  flatt 


LITTLE  EASTERN  ROOKERY.* — From  the  village  to  the  eastward,  about  half  a  mile  again,  is  a  little  eastern 
rookery,  which  lies  on  a  low,  bluffy  slope,  and  is 
not  a  piece  of  ground  admitting  of  much  more 
expansion.  It  has  superficial  area  for  the  recep- 
tion of  nearly  13,000  breeding-seals  and  their 
young. 

THE  GREAT  EASTERN. — This  is  the  last 
rookery  that  we  find  on  St.  George.  It  is  an 
imitation,  in  miniature,  of  Tolstoi  on  St.  Paul, 
with  the  exception  of  there  being  no  parade- 
ground  in  the  rear,  of  any  character  whatever. 
It  is  from  the  summit  of  the  cliffs,  overlooking 
the  narrow  ribbon  of  breeding-seals  right  under 
them,  that  I  have  been  able  to  study  the  move- 
ments of  the  fur-seal  in  the  water  to  my  heart's 
content ;  for  out,  and  under  the  water,  the  rocks, 
to  a  considerable  distance,  are  covered  with  a 
whitish  algoid  growth,  that  renders  the  dark 
bodies  of  the  swimming  seals  and  sea-lions  as 
conspicuous  as  is  the  image  thrown  by  a  magic 
lantern  of  a  silhouette  on  a  screen  prepared  for  its 
reception.!  The  low  rocky  flats  around  the  pool 
to  the  westward  and  northwest  of  the  rookery 
seem  to  be  filled  up  with  a  muddy  alluvial  wash 
that  the  seals  do  not  favor;  hence  nothing  but 
"  holluschickie  "  range  round  about  them.  .  . 

KECAPITULATION. — In  recapitulation,  there- 
fore, the  breeding-grounds  on  St.  George  island, 
according  to  the  surveys  which  I  made  between 
the  12th  and  15th  of  July,  1873,  gave  the  follow- 
ing figures.  They  are  also,  as  in  the  case  of  St.  Paul,  the  first  surveys  ever  made  here : 


LITTLE    EASTERN 


Scale: 


Name  of  breeding-grounds,  July  12-15,  1673. 


(Seals:  $  $©. 


"  Zapadnie  rookery  "  has  600  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  60  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

"  Starry  Ateel"  rookery  has  500  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  125  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

'•  \orth  rookery  "  has  750  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  150  feet  of  average  depth,  and  2,000  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  25  feet  of 

average  depth;  making  ground  iu  all  for 

"  Little  Eastern"  rookery  has  750  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  40  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

"Great  Eastern  "  rookery  has  900  feet  of  sea-margin,  with  60  feet  of  average  depth,  making  ground  for 

A  grand  total  of  the  seal-life  for  St.  George  island,  hreeding-seals  and  young,  of 

Grand  total  for  St.  Paul  island,  brought  forward,  breeding-seals  and  young,  of 

Grand  sum  total  for  the  Pribylov  islands  (seas  m  of  1873),  breeding-seals  and  young 


18,000 
30,420 

?:.>•'  i 

13,  OCO 
25,000 


163,4-20 
3, 030, 000 


3, 193, 


The  figures  above  thus  show  a  grand  total  of  3,193,420  breeding  seals  and  their  young.  This  enormous 
aggregate  is  entirely  exclusive  of  the  great  numbers  of  the  non-breeding  seals,  that,  as  we  have  pointed  out,  are 
never  permitted  to  'come  up  on  those  grounds  which  have  been  surveyed  and  epitomized  by  the  table  just  exhibited. 
That  class  of  seals,  the  "holluschickie",  in  general  terms,  all  males,  and  those  to  which  the  killing  is  confined,  come 
up  on  the  laud  and  sea-beaches  between  the  rookeries,  in  immense  straggling  droves,  going  to  and  from  the  sea  at 


*  The  site  of  this  breeding-ground  and  that  of  the  marine  slope  of  the  killing-grounds  to  the  east  of  the  village,  on  this  island,  is 
where  sea-lions  held  exclusive  possession  prior  to  their  driving  off  by  the  Russians — so  tho  natives  affirm — the  only  place  on  St.  George 
now  where  the  Eumetopiot  breeds,-  is  that  one  indicated  on  the  general  chart,  between  Garden  cove  and  Tolstoi  Meee. 

tThe  algoid  vegetation  of  the  marine  shores  of  these  islands  is  one  that  adds  a  peculiar  charm  and  beauty  to  their  treeless,  sunless 
coasts.  Every  kelp  bed  that  lloats  raft-like  in  Bering  sea,  or  is  anchored  to  its  rocky  reefs,  is  fairly  alive  with  minute  sea-shrimps,  tiny  crabs, 
and  little  shells  which  cling  to  its  masses  of  interwoven  fronds  or  dart  in  ceaseless  motion  through,  yet  within  ifs  interstices.  It  is  my  firm 
belief  that  no  better  base  of  operations  can  be  found  for  studying  marine  invertebrata  than  is  the  post  of  St.  Paul  or  St.  George ;  the  pelagic 
and  the  littoral  forms  are  simply  abundant  beyond  all  estimation  within  bounds  of  reason.  The  phosphorescence  of  the  waters  of  Bering 
sea  surpasses,  in  continued  strength  of  brilliant  illumination,  anything  that  1  have  seen  in  southern  and  equatorial  oceans.  The  crests  of 
the  long  unbroken  line  of  breakers  on  Lnkannon  beach  looked  to  me,  one  night  in  August,  like  an  instantaneous  flashing  of  lightning, 


62 


THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


„<•>"""'""'' 


GREAT  EASTERN 
Scctle: 


irregular  intervals,  from  the  beginning  to  the  closing  of  the  entire  season.    The  method  of  the  "  holluschickie"  on  these 

hauling-gronnds  is  not  systematic — it  is  not  distinct,  like  the  manner  and  law  prescribed  and  obeyed  by  the  breeding- 
seals,  which  fill  up  those  rookery-grounds 
to  the  certain  points  as  surveyed,  and  keep 
these  points  intact  for  a  week  or  ten  days, 
at  a  time,  during  the  height  of  every  season 
iii  July  and  August;  but,  to  the  contrary, 
upon  the  hauling-grounds  to-day,  an  im- 
mense drove  of  100,000  will  be  seen  before 
you  at  English  bay,  sweeping  hither  and 
surging  tfiither  over  the  polished  surface 
which  they  have  woru  with  their  restless 
flippers,  tracing  and  retracing  their  tire- 
less marches ;  consequently  the  amount  of 
ground  occupied  by  the  "holluschickie"  is 
vastly  in  excess  of  what  they  Avould  require 
did  they  conform  to  the  same  law  of  distri- 
bution observed  by  the  breeding  seals;  and 
this  ground  is  therefore  wholly  untenable 
for  any  such  definite  basis  and  satisfactory 
conclusion  as  is  that  which  I  have  surveyed 
on  the  rookeries.  Hence,  in  giving  an  esti- 
mate of  the  aggregate  number  of  "hollus- 
chickie" or  non-breeding  seals,  ou  the  Priby- 
lov  islands,  embracing  as  it  does  all  the 
males  under  six  and  seven  years  of  age  and 

all  the  yearling  females,  it  must,  necessarily,  be  a  simple  opinion  of  mine  founded  upon  nothing  better  than  my 

individual  judgment.    This  is  my  conclusion: 

The  non-breeding  seals  seem  nearly  equal  in  number  to  that  of  the  adult  breeding-seals;  but  without  putting 

them  down  at  a  figure  quite  so  high,  I  may  safely  say  that  the  sum  total  of  1,500,000,  in  round  numbers,  is  a  fair 

enumeration,  and  quite  within  bounds  of  fact.    This  makes  the  grand  sum  total,  of  the  fur-seal  life  on  the  Pribylov 

islands,  over  4,700,000. 

THE  INCREASE   OR  DIMINUTION   OF   THE   SEAL-LIFE,   PAST,   PRESENT,  AND   PROSPECTIVE. — One  Stereotyped 

question  has  been  addressed  to  me  universally  by  my  friends  since  my  return,  first  in  1873,  from  the  seal-islands. 
The  query  is:  "At  the  present  rate  of  killing  the  seals,  it  will  not  be  long  ere  they  are  exterminated;  how  much 
longer  will  they  last?"  My  answer  is  now  as  it  was  then,  "Provided  matters  are  conducted  on  the  seal- islands  in 
the  future  as  thev  are  to-day,  100,000  male  seals  under  the  age  of  five  years  and  over  one,  may  be  safely  taken 
every  year  from  the  Pribylov  islands,  without  the  slightest  injury  to  the  regular  birth-rates,  or  natural  increase 
thereon;  provided,  also,  that  the  fur-seals  are  not  visited  by  any  plague,  or  pests,  or  any  abnormal  cause  for  their 
destruction,  which  might  be  beyond  the  control  of  men ;  and  to  which,  like  any  other  great  body  of  animal  life,  they 
must  ever  be  subjected  to  the  danger  of."* 

Loss  OF  LIFE  SUSTAINED  BY  THE  YOUNG  SEALS. — From  my  calculations,  given  above,  it  will  be  seen  that 
1,000,000  pups,  or  young  seals,  in  round  numbers,  are  born  upon  these  islands  of  the  Pribylov  group  every  year; 
of  this  million,  one-half  are  males.  These  500,000  young  males,  before  they  leave  the  islands  for  sea,  during  October 
and  November,  and  when  they  are  between  five  and  six  mouths  old,  fat  and  hardy,  have  suffered  but  a  trilling  loss 
in  numbers,  say  one  per  cent.,  while  on  and  about  the  islands  of  their  birth,  surrounding  which,  and  upon  which, 
they  have  no  enemies  whatever  to  speak  of;  but,  after  they  get  well  down  to  the  Pacific,  spread  out  over  an 
immense  area  of  watery  highways  in  quest  of  piscatorial  food,  they  form  the  most  helpless  of  their  kind  to  resist 

between  Tolsti  Mees  and  Lukannou  head,  as  the  billows  successively  rolled  in,  and  broke ;  the  seals  swimming  under  the  water,  hero  ou 
St.  George  and  beneath  the  Black  Bluff's,  streaked  their  rapid  course  like  comets  in  the  sky ;  and  every  time  their  dark  heads  popped  above 
the  surface  of  the  sea,  they  were  marked  by  a  blaze  of  seintillaut  light. 

*The  thought  of  what  a  deadly  epidemic  would  effect  among  these  vast  congregations  of  Piiinepedia  was  one  that  was  constant  in 
my  mind  when  on  the  ground  and  among  them.  I  have  found  in  the  Bi-itixh  Annals  (Fleming's),  on  page  17,  an  extract  from  the  notes  of 
Dr.  Trail:  "In  1833  I  inquired  for  my  old  acquaintances,  the  seals  of  tho  Hole  of  Papa  Westray,  and  was  informed  that  about  four  years 
before  they  had  totally  deserted  the  island,  and  had  only  within  the  last  few  months  begun  to  reappear.  '  About  fifty  years 

ago  multitudes  of  their  carcasses  were  cast  ashore  in  every  bay  in  the  north  of  Scotland,  Orkney,  and  Shetland,  and  numbers  were  found 
at  sea  in  a  sickly  state."  This  note  of  Trail  is  tho  only  record  which  I  can  find  of  a  fatal  epidemic  among  the  seals ;  it  is  not  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  the  Pribylov  rookeries  have  never  suffered  from  distempers  in  the  past,  or  are  not  to,  in  the  future,  simply  because  no 
occasion  seems  to  have  arisen  during  the  comparatively  brief  period  of  their  human  domination. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  63 

or  elude  the  murderous  teeth  and  carnivorous  attacks  of  basking  sharks*  and  killer- whales t.  By  these  agencies, 
during  their  absence  from  the  islands  until  their  reappearance  in  the  following  year,  and  in  July,  they  are  so 
perceptibly  diminished  in  number  that  I  do  not  think,  fairly  considered,  more  than  one  half  of  the  legion  which  left 
the  ground  of  their  birth,  last  October,  came  up  the  next  July  to  these  favorite  landing-places;  that  is,  only  250,000 
of  them  return  out  of  the  500,000  born  last  year.  The  same  statement,  in  every  respect,  applies  to  the  going  and 
the  coming  of  the  500,000  female  pups,  which  are  identical  in  size,  shape,  and  behavior. 

As  yearlings,  however,  these  250,000  survivors,  of  last  year's  birth,  have  become  strong,  lithe,  and  active 
swimmers;  and,  wheo  they  again  leave  the  hauling-grounds  as  before,  in  the  fall,  they  are  fully  as  able  as  are  tho 
older  class  to  take  care  of  themselves;  and  when  they  reappear  next  year,  at  least  225,000  of  them  safely  return  in 
the  second  season  after  birth;  from  this  on  I  believe  that  they  live  out  their  natural  lives  of  fifteen  to  twenty  years 
each ;  the  death-rate  now  caused  by  the  visitation  of  marine  enemies  affecting  them,  in  the  aggregate,  but  slightly. 
And  again,  the  same  will  hold  good  touching  the  females,  the  average  natural  life  of  which,  however,  I  take  to  be 
only  nine  or  ten  years  each. 

Out  of  these  225,000  young  males,  we  are  required  to  save  only  one-fifteenth  of  their  number  to  pass  over  to  the 
breeding-grounds,  and  meet  there  the  225,000  young  females;  in  other  words,  the  polygamous  habit  of  this  animal 
is  such  that,  by  its  own  volition,  I  do  not  think  that  more  than  one  male  annually  out  of  fifteen  born  is  needed  on 
the  breeding-grounds  in  the  future;  but  in  my  calculations,  to  be  within  the  margin  and  to  make  sure  that.  I  save 
two-year-old  males  enough  every  season,  1  will  more  than  double  this  proportion,  and  set  aside  every  fifth  one  of 
the  young  males  in  question;  that  will  leave  180,000  seals,  in  good  condition,  that  can  be  safely  killed  every  year, 
without  the  slightest  injury  to  the  perpetuation  of  the  stock  itself  forever  in  all  its  original  integrity.t 

In  the  above  showing  I  have  put  the  very  extreme  estimate  upon  the  loss  sustained  at  sea  by  the  pup-seals 
too  large,  I  am  morally  certain ;  but,  in  attempting  to  draw  this  line  safely,  I  wish  to  place  the  matter  in  the 
very  worst  light  in  which  it  can  be  put,  and  to  give  the  seals  the  full  benefit  of  every  doubt.  Surely  I  have 
clearly  presented  the  case,  and  certainly  no  one  will  question  the  premises  after  they  have  studied  the  habit 
and  disposition  of  the  rookeries ;  hence,  it  is  a  positive  and  tenable  statement,  that  no  danger  of  the  slightest 
appreciable  degree  of  injury  to  the  interests  of  the  government  on  the  seal-islands  of  Alaska,  exists  as  long  as  the 
present  law  protecting  it,  and  the  management  executing  it,  continues. 

COURSE  PURSUED  BY  THE  SEALS  AFTER  LEAVING  THE  ISLANDS. — These  fur-seals  of  the  Pribylov  group,  after 
leaving  the  islands  in  the  autumn  and  early  winter,  do  not  visit  land  again  until  the  time  of  their  return  in  the 
following  spring  and  early  summer,  to  these  same  rookery-  and  hauling-grounds,  unless  they  touch,  as  they  are 
navigating  their  lengthened  journey  back,  at  the  Russian  Copper,  and  Bering  islands,  700  miles  to  the  westward 
of  the  Pribylov  group.  They  leave  the  islands  by  independent  squads,  each  one  looking  out  for  itself;  apparently 
all  turn  by  common  consent  to  the  south,  disappearing  toward  the  horizon,  and  are  soon  lost  in  the  vast  expanse 
below,  where  they  spread  themselves  over  the  entire  North  Pacific  as  far  south  as  the  48th  and  even  the  47th 
parallels  of  north  latitude.  Over  the  immense  area  between  Japan  and  Oregon,  doubtless,  many  extensive, 
submarine  fishing-shoals  and  banks  are  known  to  them ;  at  least,  it  is  definitely  understood  that  Bering  sea  does 

*  Somniogiig  microcephaliis.  Some  of  these  sharks  are  of  very  large  size,  and  when  caught  by  the  Indians  of  the  northwest  coast, 
basking  or  asleep  ou  the  surface  of  the  sea,  they  will,  if  transfixed  by  the  native's  harpoons,  take  a  whole  fleet  of  canoes  in  tow  and 
run  swiftly  with  them  several  hours  before  exhaustion  enables  the  savages  to  finally  dispatch  them.  A  Hudson  Bay  trader,  William 
Mauson  (at  Ft.  Alexander,  in  1865),  told  me  that  his  father  had  killed  one  in  the  smooth  waters  of  Millbank  sound,  which  measured  ','1 
feet  in  length,  and  its  liver  alone  yielded  30  gallons  of  oil.  The  Somniosus  lays  motioulei-s  for  long  intervals  in  calm  waters  of  the  North 
Pacific,  just  under  and  at  Ihe  surface,  with  its  dorsal  fin  clearly  exposed  above;  what  havoc  such  a  carnivorous  fish  would  be  likely  to 
effect  in  a  "pod"  of  young  fur-seals,  can  be  better  imagined  than  described 

t  Oral  yladiator.  While  revolving  this  particular  lino  of  inquiry  in  my  mind  when,  on  the  ground  and  among  the  seals.  I 
involuntarily  looked  constantly  for  some  sign  of  disturbance  in  the  sea  which  would  indicate  the  presence  of  an  enemy;  and,  save  seeing 
a  few  examples  of  the  Orca,  I  never  detected  anything;  if  the  killer-whale  was  common  here,  it  would  be  patent  to  the  most  casual 
eye,  because  it  is  the  habit  of  this  ferocious  cetacean  to  swim  so  closely  at  the  surface  as  to  show  its  peculiar  sharp,  dorsal  fiu  high  above 
the  water ;  possibly  a  very  superficial  observer  could  and  would  confound  the  long,  trenchant  fluke  of  the  Orcn  with  the  stubby  node  upon 
the  spine  of  the  humpback  whale,  which  that  animal  exhibits  only  when  it  is  about  to  dive.  Humpbacks  feed  around  the  islands,  but 
not,  -commonly — they  are  the  exception;  they  do  not,  however,  molest  the  seals  in  any  manner  whatever;  and  little  squads  of  thesi- 
pinnipeds  seem  to  delight  themselves  by  swimming  in  endless  circles  around  and  under  the  huge  bodies  of  those  whales,  frequently  leaping 
out  and  entirely  over  the  cetacean's  back,  as  witnessed  ou  one  occasion  by  myself  and  tho  crew  of  the  "Reliance",  off  the  coast  of 
Kadiak,  June,  1874. 

t  When  regarding  the  subject  in  lB72-'73,  of  how  many  surplus  yonng  males  could  be  wisely  taken  from  the  Pribylov  stock,  I  satisfied 
myself  that  more  than  100,000  could  be  drawn  upon  annually  for  their  skins,  and  hence  was  impressed  with  the  idea  that  the  business 
might  be  safely  developed  to  a  greater  maximum;  since  then,  however,  I  have  been  giving  attention  to  the  other  side  of  the  question, 
which  involves  the  market  for  the  skins  and  the  practical  working  of  any  sliding  scale  of  increased  killing,  such  as  I  then  recommended. 
A  careful  review  of  (he  whole  matter  modifies  my  original  idea  and  causes  me  to  think  that,  all  things  considered,  it  is  better  to  "let  well 
enough  alone".  Although  it  would  be  a  most  interesting  commercial  experiment  to  develop  Ihe  yield  of  the  Pribylov  islands  to  their  full 
capacity,  yet,  hi  view  of  the  anomalous  and  curious  features  of  the  case,  it  is  wiser  to  be  hatislied  with  the  assured  guarantee  of 
perpetuation  iu  all  original  integrity,  which  the  experience  of  the  last  ti-n  years  gives  us  on  the  present  basis  of  100,fOO,  than  to  risk  it 
by  possibly  doubling  the  revenue  theivfrom.  Therefore,  I  am  not  now  in  favor  of  my  earlier  proposition  of  gradually  increasing  tho 
killing,  until  the  maximum  number  of  surplus  "  hollnschickie''  should  be  ascertained. 


64  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

not  contain  them  long  when  they  depart  from  the  breeding-rookeries  and  the  hauling-grouuds  therein.  While 
it  is  carried  in  mind  that  they  sleep  and  rest  in  the  water  wi  th  soundness  and  with  the  greatest  comfort  on  its 
surface,  and  that  even  when  around  the  land,  during  the  summer,  they  frequently  put  off  from  the  beaches  to  take 
a  bath  and  a  quiet  snooze  just  beyond  the  surf,  we  can  readily  agree  that  it  is  no  inconvenience  whatever,  wheu 
the  reproductive  functions  have  been  discharged,  and  their  coats  renewed,  for  them  to  stay  the  balance  of  the  time 
in  their  most  congenial  element — the  briny  deep. 

NATURAL  ENEMIES  OP  THE  PUR-SEALS. — That  these  animals  are  preyed  upon  extensively  by  killer-whales 
(Orai  gladiator),  in  especial,  and  by  sharks,  and  probably  other  submarine  foes  now  unknown,  is  at  once  evident; 
for,  were  they  not  held  in  check  by  some  such  cause,  they  would,  as  they  exist  to-day  on  St.  Paul,  quickly 
multiply,  by  arithmetical  progression,  to  so  great  an  extent  that  the  island,  nay,  Bering  sea  itself,  could  not 
contain  them.  The  present  annual  killing  of  100,000  out  of  a  yearly  total  of  over  a  million  males  does  not,  in  an 
appreciable  degree,  diminish  the  seal-life,  or  interfere  in  the  slightest  with  its  regular,  sure  perpetuation  on  the 
breeding-grounds  every  year.  We  may,  therefore,  properly  look  upon  this  aggregate  of  four  and  five  millions  of 
fur-seals,  as  we  see  them  every  season  on  these  Pribylov  islands,  as  the  maximum  limit  of  increase  assigned  to  them 
by  natural  law.  The  great  equilibrium,  which  nature  holds  in  life  upon  this  earth,  must  be  sustained  at  St.  1'aul 
as  well  as  elsewhere. 

FOOD  CONSUMED  BY  THE  PUR-SEALS. — Think  of  the  enormous  food-consumption  of  these  rookeries  and 
hauling-grouuds ;  what  an  immense  quantity  of  finny  prey  must  pass  down  their  voracious  throats  as  every 
year  rolls  by.  A  creature  so  full  of  life,  strung  with  nerves,  muscles  like  bands  of  steel,  cannot  live  on  air,  or 
absorb  it  from  the  sea.  Their  food  is  fish,  to  the  practical  exclusion  of  all  other  diet.  I  have  never  seen  them 
touch,  or  disturb  with  the  intention  of  touching  it,  one  solitary  example  in  the  flocks  of  water- fowl  which  rest  upon 
the  surface  of  the  water  all  about  the  islands.  I  was  especially  careful  in  noting  this,  because  it  seemed  to  me  that 
the  canine  armature  of  their  mouths  must  suggest  flesh  for  food  at  times  as  well  as  fish ;  but  fish  we  know  they  eat. 
Whole  windrows  of  the  heads  of  cod  and  wolf  fishes,*  bitten  off  by  these  animals  at  the  nape,  were  washed  up  on 
the  south  shore  of  St.  George  during  a  gale  in  the  summer  of  1873;  this  pelagic  decapitation  evidently  marked  the 
progress  and  the  appetite  of  a  baud  of  fur  seals^to  the  windward  of  the  island,  as  they  passed  into  and  through  a 
stray  school  of  these  fishes. 

How  many  pounds  per  diem  is  required  by  an  adult  seal,  and  taken  by  it  when  feeding,  is  not  certain  in  my 
mind.  Judging  from  the  appetite,  however,  of  kindred  animals,  such  as  sea-lions  fed  in  confinement  at.  Woodward's 
gardens,  San  Francisco,  I  can  safely  say  that  forty  pounds  for  a  full-grown  fur-seal  is  a  fair  allowance,  with  at  least 
ten  or  twelve  pounds  per  diem  to  every  adult  female,  and  not  much  less,  if  any,  to  the  rapidly  growing  pups  and 
young  ''holluschickie".  Therefore,  this  great  body  of  four  and  five  millions  of  hearty,  active  animals  which  we  know 
on  the  seal-islands,  must  consume  an  enormous  amount  of  such  food  every  year.  They  cannot  a.verage  less  than 
ten  pounds  of  fish  each  per  diem,  which  gives  the  consumption,  as  exhibited  by  their  appetite,  of  over  six  million 
tons  of  fish  every  year.  What  wonder,  then,  that  nature  should  do  something  to  hold  these  active  fishermen  in 
check.t 

*  AnarrliicJias  sp. 

1 1  feel  confident  that  I  have  placed  this  average  of  fish  eaten  per  diem  by  each  seal  at  a  starvation  allowance,  or,  in  other  words,  it 
is  a  certain  minimum  of  the  whole  consumption.  If  the  seals  can  get  double  the  quantity  which  I  credit  them  with  above,  startling  as  it 
seems,  still  I  firmly  believe  that  they  eat  it  every  year.  An  adequate  realization  by  icthyologists  and  fishermen  as  to  what  havoc  the  fur- 
seal  hosts  are  annually  making  among  the  cod,  herring,  and  salmon  of  the  northwest  coast  and  Alaska,  would  disconcert  and  astonish 
them.  Happily  for  the  peace  of  political  economists  who  may  turn  their  attention  to  the  settlement  and  growth  of  the  Pacific  coast  of 
America,  it  bids  fair  to  never  be  known  with  anything  like  precision.  The  fishing  of  man,  both  aboriginal  and  civilized,  in  the  past, 
present,  and  prospective,  has  never  been,  is  not,  nor  will  it  be,  more  than  a  drop  in  the  bucket  contrasted  with  the  piscatorial  labors  of 
these  icthyophagi  in  those  waters  adjacent  to  their  birth.  What  catholic  knowledge  of  fish  and  fishing  banks  any  one  of  those  old 
"seecatchie"  must  possess,  which  we  observe  hauled  out  on  the  Pribylov  rookeries  each  summer.  It  has,  undoubtedly,  during  the 
eighteen  or  twenty  years  of  its  life,  explored  every  fish  eddy,  bank,  or  shoal  throughout  the  whole  of  that  vast  immensity  of  the  North 
Pacific  and  Bering  sea.  It  has  had  more  piscine  sport  in  a  single  twelve  month  than  Izaak  Walton  had  in  his  whole  life. 

An  old  sea-captain,  Dampier,  cruising  around  the  work!  just  about  200  years  ago,  wrote  diligently  thereof  (or,  rather,  one  Funnel 
is  said  to  have  written  for  him),  and  wrote  well.  He  had  frequent  reference  to  meeting  hair-seals  and  sea-lions,  fur-seals,  etc.,  and  tell 
into  repeating  this  maxim,  evidently  of  his  owii  making:  "  For  wherever  there  be  plenty  of  fysh,  there  be  seals."  I  am  sure  that,  unless 
a  vast  abundance  of  good  fishing-ground  was  near  by,  no  such  congregation  of  seal-life  as  is  that  under  discussion  on  the  seal-islands, 
could  exist.  The  whole  eastern  half  of  Bering  sea,  in  its  entirety,  is  a  single  fish  spawning  bank,  nowhere  deeper  than  50  to  75  fathoms, 
averaging,  perhaps,  40;  also,  there  are  great  reaches  of  fishing-shoals  up  and  down  the  northwest  coast,  from  and  above  the  straits  of 
Fuca,  bordering  the  entire  southern,  or  Pacific,  coast  of  the  Aleutian  islands.  The  aggregate  of  cod,  herring,  and  salmon  which  the  seals 
find  upon  these  vast  icthyological  areas  of  reproduction,  must  be  simply  enormous,  and  fully  equal  to  the  most  extravagant  demand  of  the 
voracious  appetites  of  CaUorhini. 

When,  however,  the  fish  retire  from  spawning  here,  there,  and  everywhere  over  these  shallows  of  Alaska  and  the  northwest  coast, 
along  by  the  end  of  September  to  1st  of  November,  every  year,  I  believe  that  the  young  fur-seal,  in  following  them  into  the  depths  of  the 
great  Pacific,  must  have  a  really  arduous  struggle  for  existence— unless  it  knows  of  fishing  banks  unknown  to  us.  The  yearlings,  however, 
and  all  above  that  age,  are  endowed  with  sufficient  muscular  energy  to  dive  rapidly  in  deep  soundings,  and  to  fish  with  undoubted  success. 
The  pnp,  however,  when  it  goes  to  sea,  five  or  six  mouths  old,  is  not  lithe  and  sinewy  like  the  yearling ;  it  is  podgy  and  fat,  a  compa  rat  i  vo 
clumsy  swimmer,  and  does  not  develop,  I  believe,  into  a  good  fisherman  until  it  has  become  pretty  well  starved  after  leaving  the  Priliylovs. 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  65 

PELAGIC  RANGE  OF  FUR-SEALS  FOR  FOOD. — During  the  winter  solstice — between  the  lapse  of  the  autumnal, 
and  the  verging  of  the  vernal  equinoxes — in  order  to  get  this  enormous  food  supply,  the  fur-seals  are  necessarily 
obliged  to  disperse  over  a  very  large  area  of  fishing  ground,  ranging  throughout  the  Korth  Pacific,  5,000  miles 
across  between  Japan  and  the  straits  of  Fuca.  In  feeding,  they  are  brought  to  the  southward  all  this  time;  and, 
as  they  go,  they  come  more  and  more  in  contact  with  those  natural  enemies  peculiar  to  the  sea  of  these  southern 
latitudes,  which  are  almost  strangers  and  are  really  unknown  to  the  waters  of  Bering  sea ;  for  I  did  not  observe, 
with  the  exception  of  ten  or  twelve  perhaps,  certainly  no  more,  killer-whales,*  a  single  marine  disturbance,  or 
molestation,  during  the  three  seasons  which  I  passed  upon  the  islands,  that  could  be  regarded  in  the  slightest 
degree  inimical  to  the  peace  and  life  of  the  Pinnipedia;  and  thus,  from  my  observation,  I  am  led  to  believe  that  it 
is  not  until  they  descend  well  to  the  south  of  the  Aleutian  islands,  and  in  the  Xorth  Pacific,  that  they  meet  with 
sharks  to  any  extent,  and  are  diminished  by  the  butchery  of  killer-whales.t 

The  young  fur-seals  going  out  to  sea  for  the  first  time,  and  following  in  the  wake  of  their  elders,  are  the 
clumsy  members  of  the  family.  When  they  go  to  sleep  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  they  rest  much  sounder  than 
the  others;  and  their  alert  and  wary  nature,  which  is  handsomely  developed  ere  they  are  two  seasons  old,  is  in  its 
infancy.  Hence,  I  believe  that  vast  numbers  of  them  are  easily  captured  by  marine  foes,  as  they  are  stupidly 
sleeping,  or  awkwardly  fishing. 

BEHAVIOR  OF  FUK-SEALS  IN  THE  WATERS  AROUND  THE  ISLANDS. — In  this  connection  I  wish  to  record  an 
impression  very  strongly  made  upon  my  mind,  in  regard^  to  their  diverse  behavior  when  out  at  sea,  away  from  the 
islands,  and  when  congregated  thereon.  As  I  have  plainly  exhibited  in  the  foregoing  chapter,  they  are  practically 
without  fear  of  man  when  he  visits  them  on  the  land  of  their  birth  and  recreation ;  but  the  same  seal  that  noticed 
you  with  quiet  indifference  at  St.  Paul,  in  June  and  July,  and  the  rest  of  the  season  while  he  was  there,  or  gamboled 
around  your  boat  when  you  rowed  from  the  ship  to  shore,  as  a  dog  will  play  about  your  horses  when  you  drive 
from  the  gate  to  the  house,  that  same  seal,  when  you  meet  him  in  one  of  the  passes  of  the  Aleutian  chain,  100  or 
200  miles  away  from  here,  as  the  case  may  be,  or  to  the  southward  of  that  archipelago,  is  the  shiest  and  wariest 
creature  your  ingenuity  can  define.  Happy  are  you  in  getting  but  a  single  glimpse  of  him,  first ;  you  will  never 
see  him  after,  until  he  hauls  out,  and  winks  and  blinks  across  Lukannon  .sands.} 

But  the  companionship  and  the  exceeding  number  of  the  seals,  when  assembled  together  annually,  makes  them 
bold ;  largely  due,  ]>erhaps,  to  their  fine  instinctive  understanding,  dating,  probably,  back  many  years,  seeming  to 
know  that  man,  after  all,  is  not  wantonly  destroying  them;  and  what  he  takes,  he  only  takes  from  the  ravenous 
maw  of  the  killer-whale  or  the  saw-tipped  teeth  of  the  Japan  shark.  As  they  sleep  in  the  water,  off  the  straits  of 
Fuca,  and  the  northwest  coast  as  far  as  Dixon's  sound,  the  Indians,  belonging  to  that  region,  surprise  them  with 
spears  and  rifle,  capturing  quite  a  number  every  year,  chiefly  pups  and  yearlings. 

I  must  not  be  understood  as  saying  that  fish  aloue  constitute  the  diet  of  the  Pribylov  pinnipeds;  I  know  that  they  feed,  to  a  limited 
extent,  upon  crustaceans  and  upon  the  squid  (Lol'tgo),  also,  eating  tender  algoid  sprouts;  I  believe  that  the  pup-seals  live  for  the  first  five 
or  six  months  at  sea  largely,  if  not  wholly,  upou  crustaceans  and  squids ;  they  are  not  agile  enough,  in  my  opinion,  to  fish  successfully  in 
any  great  degree,  -when  they  first  depart  from  the  rookeries. 

*  But  I  did  observe  a  very  striking  exhibition,  however,  of  this  character  one  afternoon  while  looking  over  Lukannon  bay.  I  saw  a 
"killer"  chasing  the  alert  "hollnschickie"  ont  beyoad  the  breakers,  whea  suddenly,  in  an  instant,  the  cruel  cetacean  was  turned  toward 
the  beach  in  hot  pursuit,  and  in  less  time  than  this  is  read  the  ugly  brute  was  high  and  dry  upon  the  sands.  The  natives  were  called, 
aud  a  great  feast  was  in  prospect  when. I  left  the  carcass. 

But  this  was  the  only  instance  of  the  orca  in  pursuit  of  seals  that  came  directly  under  my  observation ;  hence,  though  it  does 
undoubtedly  capture  a  few  here  every  year,  yet  it  is  an  insignificant  cause  of  destruction,  on  account  of  its  rarity. 

tin  the  stomach  of  one  of  these  animals,  year  before  last,  14  small  harp-seals  were  found. — Michael  Carroll's  Report  of  Seal  and 
Herring  Fisheries  of  XetcJ'oundland. 

» When  fur-seals  were  noticed,  by  myself,  far  away  from  these  islands,  at  sea,  I  observed  that  then  they  were  as  shy  and  as  wary  as 
the  most  titnorous  animal  which,  in  dreading  man's  proximity,  could  be — sinking  instantly  on  apprehending  the  approach  or  presence  of 
the  ship,  seldom  to  reappear  to  my  gaze.  But,  when  gathered  in  such  immense  numbers  at  the  Pribylov  islands,  they  are  suddenly 
metamorphosed  into  creatures  wholly  indifferent  to  my  person.  It  mast  cause  a  very  curious  sentiment  in  the  mind  of  him  who  comes  for 
the  first  time,  during  the  summer  season,  to  the  island  of  St.  Paul ;  where,  when  the  landing  boat  or  lighter  carries  him  ashore  from  the 
vessel,  the  whole  short  marine  journey  is  enlivened  by  the  gambols  and  aquatic  evolutions  of  fur-seal  convoys  to  the  "  bidarrah,"  which 
sport  joyously  and  fearlessly  round  and  round  his  craft,  as  she  is  rowed  lustily  ahead  by  the  natives;  the  fur-seals,  then,  of  all  classes, 
"holluschickie  "  principally,  pop  their  dark  heads  up  out  of  the  sea,  rising  neck  aud  shoulders  erect  above  the  surface,  to  peer  and  ogle  at 
him  and  at  his  boat,  diving  quickly  to  reappear  just  ahead  or  right  behind,  hardly  beyond  striking  distance  from  the  oars;  these 
gymnastics  of  Callorhinus  are  not  wholly  performed  thus  in  silence,  for  it  usually  snorts  and  chuckles  with  hearty  reiteration. 

The  sea-lions  up  here  also  manifest  much  the  same  marine  interest,  and  gives  the  voyager  an  exhibition  quite  similar  to  the  one  which 
I  have  just  spoken  of,  when  a  small  boat  is  rowed  in  the  neighborhood  of  its  shore  fookery;  it  is  not,  however,  so  bold,  confident,  and 
social  as  the  fur-seal  under  the  circumstances,  and  utters  only  a  short,  stifled  growl  of  surprise,  perhaps;  its  mobility,  however,  of 
vocalization  is  sadly  deficient  when  compared  with  the  scope  and  compass  of  its  valuable  relative's  polyglottis. 

The  hair-seals  (Phoca  ritulina)  around  these  islands  never  approached  our  boats  in  this  manner,  and  I  seldom  canght  more  than  a 
furtive  glimpse  of  their  short,  bull-dog  heads  when  traversing  the  coast  by  water. 

The  walrus  (Rosmarus  obesus)  also,  like  Phoca  ritulina,  gave  undoubted  evidence  of  sore  alarm  over  the  presence  of  my  boat  and  crew 
anywhere  near  its  proximity  in  similar  situations,  only  showing  itself  once  or  twice,  perhaps,  at  a  safe  distance  by  elevating  nothing  but 
the  extreme  tip  of  its  muzzle  aud  its  bleared,  popping  eyes  above  the  \vater;  it  uttered  no  sound  except  a  dull, muffled  gruut.or  else  a 
chokiug,  gurgling  bellow. 
5 


06  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ENCYSTED  BULLETS,  ARROWS,  ETC.,  IN  FUR-SEALS. — On  the  killing  grounds  at  St.  George,  in  June,  1873, 
the  natives  would  frequently  call  my  attention  to  seals  that  they  were  skinning,  in  the  hides  of  which  buckshot 
were  embedded  and  encysted  just  under  the  skin,  in  the  blubber.  From  one  animal  I  picked  out  fifteen  shot,  and 
the  holes  which  they  must  have  made  in  the  skin  were  so  entirely  healed  over  as  not  to  leave  the  faintest  trace  of 
a  scar.  These  buckshot  were  undoubtedly  received  from  the  natives  of  the  northwest  coast,  anywhere  between 
the  straits  of  Fuca  and  the  Aleutian  islands.  The  number  taken  by  these  hunters  on  the  high  seas  is,  however, 
inconsiderable ;  the  annual  average,  perhaps,  of  5,000  skins  is  a  fair  figure— some  seasons  more,  some  seasons 
less.  The  natives  also  have  found  on  the  killing-grounds,  in  the  manner  just  indicated,  specimens  of  the 
implements  employed  by  the  Aleuts  to  the  southward,  such  as  tips  of  birds'  spears  and  bone  lances,  comfortably 
encysted  in  the  blubber  under  the  skin;  but  only  very  small  fragments  are  found,  because  I  believe  any 
larger  pieces  would  create  suppuration  and  slough  out  of  the  wounds.* 

INCREASE  OF  THE  SEAL-LIFE. — I  am  free  to  say  that  it  is  not  within  the  power  of  human  management  to 
promote  this  end  to  the  slightest  appreciable  degree  over  its  present  extent  and  condition  as  it  stands  in  the  state 
of  nature,  heretofore  described.  It  cannot  fail  to  be  evident,  from  my  detailed  narration  of  the  habits  and  life  of 
the  fur-seal  on  these  islands  during  so  large  a  part  of  every  year,  that  could  man  have  the  same  supervision  and 
control  over  this  animal  during  the  whole  season  which  he  has  at  his  command  while  they  visit  the  land,  he  might 
cause  them  to  multiply  and  increase,  as  he  would  so  many  cattle,  to  an  indefinite  number — only  limited  by  time  and 
the  means  of  feeding  them.  But  the  case  in  question,  unfortunately,  is  one  where  the  fur-seal  is  taken,  by  demands 
for  food,  at  least  six  months  out  of  every  year,  far  beyond  the  reach  or  even  cognizance  of  any  man,  where  it  is 
all  this  time  exposed  to  many  known  powerful  and  destructive  natural  enemies,  and  probably  many  others;  equally 
so,  unknown,  which  prey  upon  it,  and,  in  accordance  with  that  well-recognized  law  of  nature,  keeps  this  seal-life  at 
a  certain  number — at  a  figure  which  has  been  reached,  for  ages  past,  and  will  continue  to  be  in  the  future,  as  far 
as  they  now  are — their  present  maximum  limit  of  increase,  namely,  between  four  and  five  million  seals,  in  round 
numbers.  This  law  holds  good  everywhere  throughout  the  animal  kingdom,  regulating  and  preserving  the 
equilibrium  of  life  in  the  state  of  nature ;  did  it  not  hold  good,  these  seal-islands  and  all  Bering  sea  would  have 
been  literally  covered,  and  have  swarmed  like  the  Medusce  of  the  waters,  long  before  the  Eussians  discovered  them. 
But,  according  to  the  silent  testimony  of  the  rookeries,  which  have  been  abandoned  by  the  seals,  and  the  noisy, 
emphatic  assurance  of  those  now  occupied,  there  were  no  more  seals  when  first  seen  here  by  human  eyes  in  1786 
and  1787,  than  there  are  now  in  1881,  as  far  as  all  evidence  goes. 

*  Touching  this  matter  of  the  approximate  numbers  of  fur-seals  which  are  annually  slain  in  the  open  sea,  straits,  and  estuaries  of  Bering 
and  the  North  Pacific  oceans,  I  have,  necessarily,  no  definite  data  upon  which  to  base  a  calculation ;  but  such  as  I  have,  points  to  the 
capture  every  year  of  1,000  to  1,400  young  fur-seals  in  the  waters  of  Ooninak  pass,  and  as  many  in  the  straits  adjoining  Borka  village,  by 
the  resident  Aleuts;  these  are  the  only  two  points  throughout  the  entire  Aleutian  chain  and  the  peninsula  where  any  Callorltinus  is  taken 
by  the  natives,  except  an  odd  example  now  and  then  elsewhere.  On  the  northwest  coast,  between  San  Francisco  and  Prince  William 
sound,  the  fur-seal  is  only  apprehended,  to  any  extent,  at  two  points,  viz,  off  the  straits  of  Fuca,  ten  to  twenty  miles  at  sea,  sweeping  over 
a  series  of  large  fishing  shoals  which  are  located  there,  and  in  that  reach  of  water  between  Queen  Charlotte  island  and  the  mouth  of 
Dixon  sound.  Several  small  schooners,  with  native  crews,  and  the  Indians,  themselves,  in  their  own  canoes,  cruise  for  them  here  during 
May  and  June  of  each  year.  How  many  they  secure  every  season  is  merely  a  matter  of  estimation,  and  therefore  not  a  subject  of  definite 
announcement.  In  my  Judgment,  after  carefully  investigating  the  question  at  Victoria  and  Port  Townsend  in  1874, 1  believe,  as  an  average, 
that  these  pelagic  fur-sealers  do  not,  altogether,  secure  5,000  animals  annually. 

Those  seals  killed  by  the  Aleuts  of  Makushin  and  Borka  settlements,  above  referred  to,  are  all  pups,  and  are  used  at  home — none 
exported  for  trade. 

The  last  record  which  I  can  find  of  fur-seals  being  taken  on  land  other  than  that  of  the  Pribylov  group  of  the  American  side,  is  the 
following  brief  table  of  Techmainov,  who,  in  1863,  published  (in  2  volumes')  a  long  recapitulation  of  the  Russian -American  Company's 
labors  in  Alaska  as  illustrated  by  a  voluminous  series  of  personal  letters  by  the  several  agents  of  that  company.  Techmainov  says  that 
these  fur-seals  were  taken  on  the  Farralones,  which  are  small  islets  just  abreast  of  the  entrance  to  the  Golden  Gate,  California. 


1824 

1825 

1826 

1832 

1833 

1834 

Fur-seals  

1  050 

455 

290 

210 

287 

205 

118 

54 

This  period  of  1824-1834  was  the  one  passed  by  the  Russians  in  their  occupation  of  Ross  or  Bodega,  California,  where  a  colony  was 
engaged  in  raising  cereals  and  beef,  for  the  stations  in  Alaska.  I  am  inclined  to  think,  however,  that  very  likely  many  of  the 
specimens  of  Callorhinus  counted  in  this  table  were  shot  or  speared,  as  they  now  are.  out  at  sea  off  the  straits  of  Fuca.  The  number  is 
insignificant,  but  the  pelts  were  not  very  valuable  in  those  days,  and  probably  very  slight  exertions  were  made  to  get  them ;  or,  otherwise, 
3,000  or  5,000  annually  could  have  been  secured  at  sea  then,  as  they  are  to-day,  by  our  people  and  the  Indians  of  Cape  Flattery. 

The  record,  however,  of  killing  fur-seals  on  the  Farralones,  between  1806  and  1837,  by  the  Russians,  who  were  established  then  at 
Bodega,  California,  is  an  honest  one.  I  do  not  find  any  mention  made  of  the  fact  that  they  bred  there,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  they 
did  not.  I  believe  that  when  small  squads  of  CallorMnus  ursinus  hauled  out  on  the  Californiau  islets,  they  did  so  lured  by  the  large 
numbers  of  breeding  Zaloplius,  and  the  Eumetopias  which  repaired  there  then,  as  they  do  now,  for  that  purpose.  Had  the  sea-lions  not 
been  there,  in  the  manner  aforesaid,  the  presence  of  fur-seals  on  North  American  laud,  elsewhere  than  on  that  of  the  Pribylov  group, 
would  not  have  been  thus  determined  and  established. 

Again,  in  this  connection,  and  corroborative,  is  the  fact  that  in  1878  a  few  hundred  fur-seals  were  taken  by  sea-lion  hunters  among 
the  Zaloph'tis  at  Santa  Barbara  and  Guadaloupe  islands,  southern  California!!  coast.  I  am  assured  of  this  fact  by  the  evidence  of  the 
gentleman  who  himself  purchased  the  skins  from  the  lucky  hunters.  None  had  ever  been  seen  there  before,  by  our  people,  and  nOiio 
have  been  taken  since.  The  Russian  archives  give  no  testimony  on  this  sc'bfe. 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  67 

SITES  OF  ABANDONED  BOOKERiES. — With  reference  to  the  amount  of  ground  covered  by  the  seals,  when 
first  discovered  by  the  Russians,  I  have  examined  every  foot  of  the  shore  line  of  both  islands  where  the  bones,  aud 
polished  rocks,  etc.,  might  be  lying  on  any  deserted  areas.  Since  then,  after  carefully  surveying  the  new  ground  now 
occupied  by  the  seals,  and  comparing  this  area  with  that  which  they  have  deserted,  1  feel  justified  in  stating  that 
for  the  last  twelve  or  fifteen  years,  at  least,  the  fur-seals  on  these  islands  have  not  diminished,  nor  have  they 
increased  as  a  body  to  any  noteworthy  degree;  and  throughout  this  time  the  breeding-grounds  have  not  been 
disturbed  except  at  that  brief  but  tumultuous  interregnum  during  1868;  and  they  have  been  living  since  in  a 
perfectly  quiet  and  natural  condition. 

CAN  THE  NUMBER  BE  INCREASED  f — What  can  be  done  to  promote  their  increase!  We  cannot  cause  a  greater 
number  of  females  to  be  born  every  year  than  are  born  now ;  we  do  not  touch  or  disturb  these  females  as  they  grow 
up  and  live ;  and  we  never  will,  if  the  law  and  present  management  is  continued.  We  save  double — we  save 
more  than  enough  males  to  serve;  nothing  more  can  be  done  by  human  .agency ;  it  is  beyond  our  power  to  protect 
them  from  their  deadly  marine  enemies  as  they  wander  into  the  boundless  ocean  searching  for  food. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  all  these  facts,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  quite  confidently,  that  under  the  present 
rules  and  regulations  governing  the  sealing  interests  on  £hese  islands,  the  increase  or  diminution  of  the  seal-life 
thereon  will  amount  to  nothing  in  the  future ;  that  the  seals  will  exist,  as  they  do  exist,  in  all  time  to  come  at  about 
the  same  number  and  condition  recorded  in  this  monograph.  To  test  this  theory  of  mine,  I  here,  in  the  record  of 
my  surveys  of  the  rookeries,  have  put  stakes  down  which  will  answer,  upon  those  breeding-grounds,  as  a  correct 
guide  as  to  their  present,  as  well  as  to  their  future,  condition,  from  year  to  year. 

SURVEYING  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  ROOKERIES. — During  the  first  week  of  inspection  of  some  of  those  earliest 
arrivals,  the  "seecatchie",  which  I  have  described,  will  frequently  take  to  the  water  when  approached;  but 
these  runaways  quickly  return.  By  the  end  of  May,  however,  the  same  seals  will  hardly  move  to  the  right  or  left 
when  yon  attempt  to  pass  through  them.  Then,  two  weeks  before  the  females  begin  to  come  in,  aud  quickly 
aiter  their  arrival,  the  organization  of  the  fur-seal  rookery  is  rendered  entirely  indifferent  to  man's  presence  on 
visits  of  quiet  inspection,  or  to  anything  else,  save  their  own  kind,  and  so  continues  during  the  rest  of  the  season. 

INDIFFERENCE  OF  FUR-SEALS  TO  CARRION  SMELLS,  BLOOD,  ETC. — I  have  called  attention  to  the  singular 
fact,  that  the  breediug-seals  upon  the  rookeries  aud  hauling  grounds  are  not  aft'ected  by  the  smell  of  blood  or  carrion 
arising  from  the  killing  fields,  or  the  stench  of  blubber  fires  which  burn  in  the  native  villages.  This  trait  is 
conclusively  illustrated  by  the  attitude  of  those  two  rookeries  near  the  village  of  St.  Paul ;  for  the  breeding-ground 
on  this  spit,  at  the  head  of  the  lagoon,  is  not  more  than  forty  yards  from  the  great  killing- grounds  to  the  eastward; 
being  separated  from  those  spots  of  slaughter,  and  the  seventy  or  eighty  thousand  rotting  carcasses  thereon,  by  a 
slough  not  more  than  ten  yards  wide.  These  seals  can  smell  the  blood  and  carcasses,  upon  this  field,  from  the  time 
they  land  in  the  spring  until  they  leave  in  the  autumn  ;  while  the  general  southerly  winds  waft  to  them  the  odor 
and  souuds  of  the  village  of  St.  Paul,  not  over  200  rods  south  of  them,  and  above  them,  in  plain  sight.  All  this 
has  no  effect  upon  the  seals — they  know  that  they  are  not  disturbed — and  the  rookery,  the  natives  declare,  has  been 
slightly  but  steadily  increasing.  Therefore,  with  regard  to  surveying  and  taking  those  boundaries  assumed  by  the 
breeding-seals  every  year,  at  that  point  of  high  tide,  and  greatest  expansion,  which  they  assume  between  the  8th 
and  15th  of  July,  it  is  an  entirely  practicable  and  simple  task.  You  can  go  everywhere  on  the  skirts  of  the  rookeries 
almost  within  reaching  distance,  and  they  will  greet  you  with  quiet,  inoffensive  notice,  and  permit  close,  unbroken 
observation,  when  it  is  subdued  and  undemonstrative,  paying  very  little  attention  to  your  approach. 

YEARLY  CHANGES  IN  THE  ROOKERIES. — I  believe  tie  agents  of  the  government  there,  are  going  to  notice, 
every  year,  little  changes  here  and  there  in  the  area  and  distribution  of  the  rookeries ;  for  instance,  one  of  these 
breeding-grounds  will  not  be  quite  as  large  this  year  as  it  was  last,  while  another  one,  opposite,  will  be  found 
somewhat  larger  aud  expanded  over  the  record  which  it  made  last  season.  In  1874,  it  was  my  pleasure  and  my- 
profit  to  re  traverse  all  these  rookeries  of  St.  George  and  St.  Paul,  with  my  field  notes  of  1872  in  my  hand,  making 
careful  comparisons  of  their  relative  size  as  recorded  then,  and  now.  To  show  this  peculiarity  of  enlarging  a  little 
here,  and  diminishing  a  little  there,  so  characteristic  of  the  breeding-grounds,  I  reproduce  the  following  memoranda 
of  1874 : 

NORTHEAST  POINT,  July  IS,  1874. 

CONTRAST  ON  ST.  PAUL  BETWEEN  1872  AND  1874. — Quite  a  strip  of  ground  near  Webster's  house  has  been  deserted  this  season ;  but 
a  small  expansion  is  observed  on  Hutchinson's  hill.  The  rest  of  the  ground  is  as  mapped  in  1872,  with  no  noteworthy  increase  iu  any 
direction.  The  condition  of  the  animals  and  their  young,  excellent;  small  irregularities  in  the  massing  of  the  families,  due  to  the  heavy 
rain  this  iiiorni^t  j  sea-lions  about  the  same ;  none,  however,  on  the  west  shore  of  the  point. 

The  aggregate  of  life  on  this  great  rookery  is,  therefore,  about  the  same  as  in  1872  ;  the  "  hollnschickie  ",  or  tillable  seals,  hauling 
as  well  and  as  numerously  as  before.  The  proportions  of  the  different  ages  among  them  of  two,  three,  and  four-year-olds,  pretty  well 
represented. 

POLAVINA,  July  18,  1H74. 

Stands  as  it  did  in  1872;  breeding- and  hauling-gronnds  in  excellent  condition;  the  latter,  on  Polavina,  are  changing  from  the 
uplands  down  upon  Polavina  sand  beach,  trending  for  three  miles  toward  northeast  point.  The  numbers  of  the  "hollnschickie"  on  this 
ground  of  Polavina,  where  they  have  not  been  disturbed  for  some  five  years,  to  mention,  in  the  way  of  taking,  do  not  seem  to  be  any 
greater  than  they  are  on  the  hauling-grouuds  adjacent  to  Northeast  point  and  the  village,  from  which  they  are  driven  almost  every  day 


68  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

during  this  season  of  killing.  I  notice  also  this  remarkable  characteristic  of  the  "  holluschickie  ";  no  matter  how  cleanly  the  natives  may 
drive  the  seals  off  of  a  given  piece  of  hauling-ground  this  morning,  if  the  weather  is  favorable,  to-morrow  will  see  it  covered  again  just 
as  thickly ;  and,  thus  they  drive  in  this  manner  from  Zoltoi  sands  almost  every  day  during  the  killing-season,  generally  finding  on  the 
succeeding  morning  more,  or  as  many,  seals  as  they  drove  off  the  previous  dawn.  This  seems  to  indicate  that  the  "holluschickie" 
recognize  no  particular  point  as  favored  over  another  at  the  island  when  they  land,  which  is  evidently  in  obedience  to  a  general  desire 
of  coming  ashore  at  such  a  suitable  place  as  promises  no  crowding  and  no  fighting. 

LUKANNON  AND  KETAVIE,  July  19,    1874. 

Not  materially  changed  in  any  respect  from  its  condition  at  this  time  in  1872. 

GORBOTCH,  July  19,  1874. 
Just  the  same.    Condition  excellent. 

REEF,  July  19,  1874. 

A  slight  contraction  on  the  south  sea-margin  of  this  ground ;  compensated  for  by  fresh  expansion  under  the  bluffs  ou  the  northwest 
side;  not  noteworthy  in  either  instance.  Condition  excellent. 

NAH  SPEEL,  July  20,  1874. 

A  diminution  of  one-half  at  least.  Very  few  here  this  year.  It  is  no  place  for  a  rookery ;  not  a  pistol-shot  from  the  natives'  houses, 
and  all  the  natives'  children  fooling  over  the  bluffs. 

LAGOON,  July  20,  1874. 
No  noteworthy  change ;  if  any,  a  trifling  increase.     Condition  good.     Animals  clean  and  lively. 

TOLSTOI,  July  21,  1874. 
No  perceptible  change  in  this  rookery  from  its  good  shape  of  1872.     The  condition  excellent. 

ZAPADNIE,  July  22,  1874. 

A  remarkable  extension  or  increase  I  note  here,  of  2,000  feet  of  shore  line,  with  an  average  depth  of  50  feet  of  breeding-ground, 
which  has  been  built  on  to  Upper  Zapadnie,  stretching  out  toward  Tolstoi ;  the  upper  rookery  proper  has  not  altered  its  bearings 
or  proportions;  the  sand  beach  belt  between  it  and  Lower  Zapadnie  is  not  occupied  by  breeding-seals;  and  a  fair  track  for  the 
"holluschickie",  500  feet  wide,  left  clear,  over  which  they  have  traveled  quite  extensively  this  season,  some  20,000  to  25,000  of  them,  at 
least,  lying  out  around  the  old  salt-house  to-day.  Lower  Zapadnie  has  lost  in  a  noteworthy  degree  about  an  average  of  20  feet  of  its 
general  depth,  which,  however,  is  more  than  compensated  for  by  the  swarming  on  the  upper  rookery.  A  small  beginning  had  been  made 
for  a  rookery  on  the  shore  just  southwest  from  Zapadnie  lake,  in  1872,  but  this  year  it  has  been  substantially  abandoned. 

CONTRAST  ON  ST.  GEORGE  BETWEEN  1873  AND  1874. — Aii  epitome"  of  my  notes  for  St.  George,  gives,  as  to 
this  season  of  1874,  the  following  data  for  comparison  with  that  of  1873  : 

ZAPADNIE,  July  8,  1874. 
This  rookery  shows  a  slight  increase  upon  the  figures  of  last  year,  about  5,000.    Fine  condition. 

STARRY  ATEEL,  July  6,  1874. 
No  noteworthy  change  from  last  year. 

NORTH  ROOKERY,  July  6,  1874. 
No  essential  change  from  last  year.    Condition  very  good. 

LITTLE  EASTERN,  July  6,  1874. 
A  slight  diminution  of  some  2,000  or  so.     Condition  excellent. 

EASTERN  ROOKERY,  July  7,  1874. 

A  small  increase  over  last  year  of  about  3,000,  only  trifling,  however ;  the  aggregate  seal-life  here  similar  to  that  of  last  season,  with 
the  certainty  of  at  least  a  small  increase.  The  unusually  early  season,  this  year,  brought  the  rookery  "seecatchie"  on  the  ground  very 
much  in  advance  of  the  general  time ;  they  landed  as  early  as  the  10th  of  April,  while  the  arrival  of  the  cows  was  as  late  as  usual, 
corresponding  to  my  observations  during  the  past  seasons. 

The  general  condition  of  the  animals  of  all  classes  on  St.  George  is  most  excellent — they  are  sleek,  fat,  and  free  from  any  disease. 

In  this  way  it  is  plain  that,  practically,  the  exact  condition  of  these  animals  can  be  noted  every  season;  and, 
should  a  diminution  be  observed,  due  to  any  cause,  known  or  unknown,  the  killing  can  be  promptly  regulated,  or 
stopped,  to  any  required  quota. 

Ten  years  have  passed,  with  the  end  of  last  season,  in  which  nearly  100,000  young  males  have  been  annually 
taken  on  St.  Paul  and  St.  George;  75,000  from  the  former,  and  25,000  from  the  latter,  as  a  rule;  and  we  now 
have  the  experience  with  which  to  enlighten  our  understanding,  and  to  make  our  statement  correct.  That 
affirmation  is,  that  if  the  effect  of  annually  killing  100,000  young  male  seals  is  either  to  increase  or  to  diminish  the 
seal-life  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  it  cannot  be  noticed ;  it  has  not  to  a  certainty  wrought  injury,  and  it  has  not 
promoted  an  increase.  I  advanced  this  hypothesis  in  1873;  and  I  now  find  it  completely  verified  and  confirmed 
by  the  united,  intelligent  testimony  of  those  who  have  followed  on  the  ground  in  my  footsteps. 

PECUNIARY  VALUE  OF  THE  SEAL- LIFE  ON  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. — The  theoretical  value  of  these  interests 
of  the  government  on  the  Pribylov  inlands,  represented  by  2,500,000  to  3,000,000  fur-seals,  male  OTd  female,  in 
good  condition,  is  not  less  than  $10,000,000  or  $12,000,000;  taking,  however,  the  females  out  of  the  question, 
and  from  this  calculation,  and  looking  at  the  "  holluschickie "  alone,  as  they  really  represent  the  only  killable 
seals,  then  the  commercial  value  of  the  same  would  be  expressed  by  the  sum  of  $1,800,000  to  $2,000,000;  this  is  a 
permanent  principal  invested  here,  which  now  nets  the  public  treasury  more  than  15  per  cent,  annually :  a  very 
handsome  rate  of  interest,  surely. 

STRANGE  IGNORANCE  OF  THEIR  VALUE  IN  1867. — Considering  that  this  return  is  the  only  one  made  to  the 
government  by  Alaska,  since  its  transfer,  and  that  it  was  never  taken  into  account,  at  first,  by  the  most  ardent 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  69 

/ 

advocates  of  the  purchase  of  Kussian- America,  it  is  in  itself  highly  creditable  and  interesting;  to  Senator  Snmner 
the  friends  of  the  acquisition  of  this  territory  in  1867,  delegated  the  task  of  making  the  principal  argument  in  its 
favor.  Everything  that  was  written  in  strange  tongues  was  carefully  translated  for  the  choice  bits  of  mention 
which  could  be  found  of  Alaska's  value.  Hence  his  speech*  on  the  subject  possesses  this  interest :  it  is  the 
embodiment  of  everything  that  could  be  scraped  together,  having  the  faintest  shadow  of  authenticity,  by  all  of  the 
eager  friends  of  the  purchase,  which  gave  the  least  idea  of  any  valuable  natural  resources  in  Alaska ;  therefore, 
when,  in  summing  all  this  up,  he  makes  no  reference  whatever  to  the  seal-islands,  or  the  fur-seal  itself,  the 
extraordinary  ignorance  at  home  and  abroad  relative  to  the  Pribylov  islands  can  be  well  appreciated. 

THOUGHTS  UPON  THE  POSSIBLE  MOVEMENTS  OF  THE  FUR-SEALS  IN  THE  FUTURE. — As  these  animals.Jive  and 
breed  upon  the  Pribylov  islands,  the  foregoing  studies  of  their  habit  declare  certain  natural  conditions  of  landing- 
ground  and  climate  to  be  necessary  for  their  existence  and  perpetuation.  From  my  surveys  made  upon  the  islands 
to  the  north,  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Lawrence,  together  with  the  scientific  and  corroborating  testimony  of  those  who 
have  visited  all  of  the  mainland  coast  of  Alaska,  and  the  islands  contiguous,  including  the  peninsula  and  the  great 
Aleutian  archipelago,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  stating  that  the  fur-seal  cannot  breed,  or  rest  for  that  matter,  on  any 
other  land  than  that  now  resorted  to,  which  lies  within  our  boundary  lines ;  the  natural  obstacles  are  insuperable. 
Therefore,  so  far  as  our  possessions  extend,  we  have,  in  the  Pribylov  group,  the  only  eligible  land  to  which  the  fur- 
seal  can  repair  for  breeding ;  and  on  which,  at  St.  Paul  island  alone,  there  is  still  room  enough  of  unoccupied 
rookery-ground  for  the  accommodation  of  twice  as  many  seals  as  we  find  there  to-day.  But  we  must  not  forget  a 
very  important  prospect;  for,  we  know  that  to  the  westward,  only  700  miles,  and  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Russia, 
are  two  other  seal-islands — one  very  large,  on  which  the  fur-seal  regularly  breeds  also;  and  though  from  the  meager 
testimony  in  my  possession,  compared  with  St.  Paul,  the  fur-seal  life  upon  them  is  small,  still,  if  that  land 
within  the  pale  of  the  czar's  dominion  be  as  suitable  for  the  reception  of  the  rookeries  as  is  that  of  St.  Paul,  then 
what  guarantee  have  we  that  the  seal-life  on  Copper  and  Bering  islands,  at  some  future  time,  may  not  be  greatly 
augmented  by  a  corresponding  diminution  of  our  own,  with  no  other  than  natural  causes  operating  ?  Certainly,  if 
the  ground  on  either  Bering  or  Copper  island,  in  the  Commander  group,  is  as  well  suited  for  the  wants  of  the 
breeding  fur-seal  as  is  that  exhibited  by  the  Pribylov  islands,  then  I  say  confidently  that  we  may  at  any  time  note 
a  diminution  here  and  find  a  corresponding  augmentation  there;  for  I  have  clearly  shown,  in  my  chapter  on  the 
habits  of  these  animals,  that  they  are  not  so  particularly  attached  to  the  respective  places  of  their  birth,  but  that 
they  rather  land  with  an  instinctive  appreciation  of  the  fitness  of  that  ground  as  a  whole. 

NEED  OF  MOBE  DEFINITE  KNOWLEDGE  CONCERNING  THE  RUSSIAN  SBAL-ISLANDS. — If  we,  however,  possess  all 
the  best  suited  ground,  then  we  can  count  upon  retaining  the  seal-life  as  we  now  have  it,  by  a  vast  majority,  and,  in 
no  other  way ;  for  it  is  not  unlikely  that  some  season  may  occur  when  an  immense  number  of  the  fur-seals,  which 
have  lived  during  the  last  four  or  five  years  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  should  be  deflected  from  their  usual  feeding- 
range  at  sea  by  the  shifting  of  schools  of  fish,  and  other  abnormal  causes,  which  would  bring  them  around  quite  close 
to  the  Asiatic  seal-grounds,  in  the  spring;  and  the  scent  from  those  rookeries  would  act  as  a  powerful  stimulant 
and  attraction  for  them  to  land  there,  where  the  conditions  for  their  breeding  may  be  just  as  favorable  as  they 
desire.  Such  being  the  case,  this  diminution,  therefore,  which  we  would  notice  on  the  Pribylov  group,  might  be  the 
great  increase  observed  at  the  Commander  islands,  and  not  due  to  any  mismanagement  on  the  part  of  the  men  in 
charge  of  these  interests.  Thus,  it  appears  to  me  necessary  that  definite  knowledge  concerning  the  Commander 
islands  and  the  Kuriles  should  be  gathered. 

If  we  find,  however,  that  the  character  of  this  Russian  seal  laud  is  restricted  to  narrow  beach-margins,  under 
bluffs,  as  at  St.  George,  then  we  shall  know  that  a  great  body  of  seals  will  never  attempt  to  land  there  when  they 
could  not  do  so  without  suffering,  and  in  violation  of  their  laws,  during  the  breeding-season.  Therefore,  with  this 
correct  understanding  to  start  on,  we  can  then  feel  alarmed  with  good  reason,  should  we  ever  observe  any 
diminution,  to  a  noteworthy  degree,  on  our  seal-islands  of  Bering  sea. 

POSSIBLE  DEFLECTION  OF  SEALS  IN  FEEDING. — I  do  not  call  attention  to  this  subject  with  the  slightest  idea 
in  my  mind,  as  I  write,  of  any  such  contingency  arising,  even  for  an  indefinite  time  to  come;  but  still  I  am  sensible 
of  the  fact  that  it  is  possible  for  it  to  occur  any  season.  But  the  seals  undoubtedly  feed  on  their  pelagic  fields  in 
systematic  routine  of  travel,  from  the  time  they  leave  the  Pribylov  islands  until  that  of  their  return;  therefore,  in 
all  probability,  unless  the  fish  upon  which  they  are  nourished  suddenly  become  scarce  in  our  waters  and  soundings, 
the  seals  will  not  change  their  base,  as  matters  now  progress  ;  but  it  is  possible  for  the  finny  shoals  and  schools 
to  be  so  deflected  from  their  migration  to  and  from  their  spawning- beds,  as  to  carry  this  seal-life  with  it,  as  I  have 
hinted  above.  Thus  it  cannot  be  superfluous  to  call  up  this  question,  so  that  it  shall  be  prominent  in  discussion, 
and  suggestion  for  future  thought. 

NEED  OF  CAREFUL  YEARLY  EXAMINATION. — In  the  meantime  the  movements  of  the  seals  upon  the  great 
breeding-rookeries  of  St.  Paul  and  those  of  St.  George  should  be  faithfully  noted  and  recorded  every  year ;  and  as 
time  goes  on  this  record  will  place  the  topic  of  their  increase  or  diminution  beyond  all  theory  or  cavil. 

"  Speech  on  cession  of  Russian-America,  U.  S.  Senate,  18(77 ;  "  Summary,"  p.  48. 


70 


THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


12.  MANNER  OF  TAKING  THE  SEALS. 

EXHIBIT  OP  ALL  SKINS  SHIPPED  FROM  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS.— As  an  exhibit  of  the  entire  number  of  fur-seal 
skins  taken  for  taxes  and  sale  from  the  Pribylov  islands,  between  1797  and  1880,  inclusive,  I  present  the  following 
table,  which,  although  it  may  vary  from  the  true  aggregate,  during  the  long  period  of  nearly  one  hundred  years 
covered  by  it,  I  am  nevertheless  satisfied  it  is  the  best  evidence  of  the  kind  which  can  be  obtained.  Prior  to  the 
year  1868  it  will  be  noticed  that  I  have  given  only  a  series  of  estimates  for  the  period  antedating  that  year,  as  far 
back  as  1862.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  I  can  find  nowhere,  iu  writing,  an  authenticated  record  of  the  catch.  It 
was  the  policy  of  the  old  Russian  company  invariably  to  take  more  skins,  every  year,  from  these  isfcnds  down  to 
Sitka  than  they  could  profitably  dispose  of  annually  in  the  markets  of  the  world;  a  large  surplus  being  yearly  left 
over,  which  were  suffered  to  decay  or  be  destroyed  by  moths,  and  subsequently  thrown  into  the  sea.  I  can  only 
judge,  therefore,  of  what  they  took  in  that  period,  from  what  I  know  they  had  on  hand  in  their  salt-house  at  St. 
George  and  St.  Paul  during  1867,  which  was  40,000  to  48,000  skins;  and  this  the  natives  told  me  was  a  larger 
average  than  they  had  taken  for  a  great  many  years  prior  to  that  date.  Hence,  I  have  proportioned  it  back  to  the 
last  record,  which  I  find  in  Techmainov,  whose  figures,  embraced  in  the  three  periods,  from  1796  to  1861,  have  been 
given  as  copied  by  him  from  the  authentic  archives  of  the  old  Russian  company;  he  is  careful  to  say,  in  this 
connection,  that  the  exhibit  does  not  show  all  skins  that  were  taken  from  the  seal-islands,  but  only  those  which 
the  Russians  took  for  sale  from  Sitka. 

And,  again,  other  Russian  authors,  rather  than  this  historian  of  the  Russian  American  Company,  have  said 
that  immense  numbers  of  fur-seal  skins — hundreds  of  thousands — were  frequently  accumulated  in  the  warehouses 
at  Sitka  only  to  decay  and  be  destroyed.  Their  aggregate  cannot  be  estimated  within  any  bound  of  accuracy,  and 
it  is  not  in  the  sum  total  of  the  following  table.  What  we  have  taken  on  the  island,  since  1868,  is  presented  below, 
almost  correct.  In  the  appendix,  where  I  give  a  short  digest  of  Professor  Nordenskiold's  visit  to  Bering 
island,  will  be  found  another  table  showing  the  number  of  skins  taken  from  those  Russian  Commander  islands. 
In  the  following  table,  relative  to  the  Pribylov  group,  it  will  be  noticed  that  there  is  a  gap  of  ten  years,  between  1786, 
the  date  of  their  discovery,  and  1805,  the  time  of  the  earliest  Russian  record.  How  many  were  taken  then,  there 
is  not  the  faintest  evidence  in  black  and  white;  but  we  do  know  that  from  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  Pribylov 
islands  up  to  1799,  the  taking  of  fur-seals  on  both  of  these  islands  progressed  without  count  or  lists,  and  without 
any  responsible  head  or  director;  because  there  were  then,  upon  those  islands,  seven  or  eight  different  companies, 
represented  by  as  many  agents  or  leaders,  and  all  of  them  vied  one  with  the  other  in  taking  as  many  fur-seals  as 
they  could :  * 

Far-seal  skins  taken  from  <7te  Prybilov  islands  for  shipment  and  sale. 


Period. 

Number   of 
skins. 

Period. 

Number   of 

skins. 

Period. 

Number   of 
skins. 

Period. 

Number    of 
skins. 

*  1797-1821  (24  years)  

1,  232,  374 

1864  

?26  000 

1870     

9  965 

1876  

99  000 

*  1821-1842  (21  years)  

458,  502 

1865    

?40  000 

1871  

63,  000 

1877  

83  500 

*  1842  1861  (19  years) 

372  000 

1866 

?4'>  000 

1872 

99  000 

1878 

95  000 

1862 

J'O  000 

1867 

848  000 

1873          .                      .-  . 

99  630 

1879 

90  968 

1863        

?25  000 

1868 

24''  000 

1874 

99  820 

1880  .   . 

90  !)50 

1869             

87,  000 

1875  

99  500 

I 

Total,  1797  to  1880  .  . 

3,  561,  (151 

*  Including  about  5,000  annually  from  the  Commander  islands. 

.THE  MANNER  IN  WHICH  THE  SEALS  ARE  TAKEN. — By  reference  to  the  habit  of  the  fur  seal,  which  I  have 
discussed  at  length,  it  is  now  plain  and  beyond  doubt,  that  two-thirds  of  all  the  males  which  are  born,  and  they 
are  equal  in  numbers  to  the  females  born,  are  never  permitted  by  the  remaining  third,  strongest  by  uatuial 
selection,  to  land  upon  the  same  breeding-ground  with  the  females,  which  always  herd  thereupon  en  masse.  Hence, 
this  great  baud  of  "bachelor"  seals,  or  "holluschickie",  so  fitly  termed,  when  it  visits  the  island  is  obliged  to  live 
apart  entirely — sometimes,  and  some  places,  miles  away  from  the  rookeries;  and,  in  this  admirably  perfect  method 
of  nature  are  those  seals  which  can  be  properly  killed  without  injury  to  the  rookeries,  selected  and  held  aside  by 
their  own  volition,  so  that  the  natives  can  visit  and  take  them  without  disturbing,  in  the  least  degree,  the  entire 
quiet  of  the  breeding-grounds,  where  the  stock  is  perpetuated. 

The  manner  in  which  the  natives  capture  and  drive  the  "holluschickie"  up  from  the  hauling-grounds  to  the 
slaughter-fields  near  the  two  villages  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  and  elsewhere  on  the  islands,  cannot  be  improved 

*  The  attempt,  on  my  part,  to  get  an  authentic  list  of  the  numbers  of  fur-seals  slain  upon  the  Pribylov  islands,  prior  to  1868,  has 
simply  been,  to  my  mind,  a  partial  failure.  My  investigation  and  search  for  such  record,  has  satisfied  me  that  it  does  not  exist; 
memoranda  of  shipments  only,  each  season,  were  made  by  the  agents  of  the  Russian  company  when  the  vessels  took  those  skins  from  the 
seal-islands  to  Sitka;  and  of  these  skins  again,  count  was  only  made  of  such  as  were  exported  to  Chiua  or  Russia,  no  mention  being  made 
anywhere  of  the  number  which  was  consumed  in  Alaska  by  the  company's  large  force  of  attaches,  or  else  destroyed  at  New  Archangel. 
This  method  of  accounting  for  the  yield  from  the  Pribylovs  from  1806  or  1817  up  to  1867,  naturally  confuses  a  correct  determination  us  to 
the  sum  total — renders  it,  perhaps,  very  inaccurate.  This  explanation  is,  at  least,  due  to  the  reader. 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  71 

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npon.  It  is  in  this  way:  at  the  beginning  of  every  sealing-season,  that  is,  daring  May  and  June,  large  bodies  of  the 
young  "bachelor"  seals  do  not  haul  up  on  land  very  far  from  the  water — a  few  rods  at  the  most — and,  when  these 
first  arrivals  are  sought  after,  the  natives,  in  capturing  them,  are  obliged  to  approach  slyly  and  run  quickly  between 
the  dozing  seals  and  the  surf,  before  they  can  take  alarm  and  bolt  into  the  sea;  in  this  manner  a  dozen  Aleuts, 
running  down  the  sand  beach  of  English  bay,  in  the  early  morning  of  some  June  day,  will  turn  back  from  the  water 
thousands  of  seals,  just  as  the  mold-board  of  a  plow  lays  over  and  back  a  farrow  of  earth.  When  the  sleeping  seals 
are  first  startled,  they  arise,  and,  seeing  men  between  them  and  the  water,  immediately  turn,  lope,  and  scramble 
rapidly  back  up  and  over  the  land ;  the  natives  then  leisurely  walk  on  the  flanks  and  in  the  rear  of  the  drove  thus 
secured,  directing  and  driving  it  over  to  the  killing-grounds,  close  by  the  village.* 

PROGRESSION  OF  A  SEAL-DRIVE. — A  drove  of  seals  on  hard  or  firm  grassy  ground,  in  cool  and  moist  weather, 
may  be  driven  with  safety  at  the  rate  of  half  a  mile  an  hour ;  they  can  be  urged  along,  with  the  expenditure  of  a 
great  many  lives,  however,  at  the  speed  of  a  mile  or  a  mile  and  a  quarter  per  hour;  but  this  is  seldom  done.  An 
old  bull  seal,  fat  and  unwieldy,  cannot  travel  with  the  younger  ones,  though  it  can  lope  or  gallop  as  it  starts  across 
the  ground  as  fast  as  an  ordinary  man  can  run,  over  100  yards ;  but  then  it  fails  utterly,  falls  to  the  earth  supine, 
entirely  exhausted,  hot,  and  gasping  for  breath. 

The  "hollaschickie"  are  urged  along  over  the  path  leading  to  the  killing-grounds  with  very  little  tronble,  and 
require  only  three  or  four  men  to  guide  and  secure  as  many  thousand  at  a  time.  They  are  permitted  frequently  to 
halt  and  cool  off,  as  heating  them  injures  their  fur.  These  seal-halts  on  the  road  always  impressed  me  with  a  species 
of  sentimentalism  and  regard  for  the  creatures  themselves.  The  men  dropping  back  for  a  few  moments,  the  awkward 
shambling  and  scuffling  of  the  march  at  once  ceases,  and  the  seals  stop  in  their  tracks  to  fan  themselves  with  their 
hind-flippers,  while  their  heaving  flanks  give  rise  to  subdued  panting  sounds.  As  soon  as  they  apparently  cease  to 
gasp  for  want  of  breath,  and  are  cooled  off  comparatively,  the  natives  step  up  once  more,  clatter  a  few  bones  with  a 
shout  along  the  line,  and  the  seal-shamble  begins  again — their  march  to  death  and  the  markets  of  the  world  is  taken 
up  anew. 

DOCILITY  or  FUR-SEALS  WHEN  DRIVEN. — I  was  also  impressed  by  the  singular  docility -and  amiabitity  of  these 
animals  when  driven  along  the  road;  they  never  show  fight  any  more  than  a  flock  of  sheep  would  do;  if,  however,  a 
few  old  seals  get  mixed  in,  they  usually  get  so  weary  that  they  prefer  to  come  to  a  stand-still  and  fight  rather  than 
move;  otherwise  no  sign  whatever  of  resistance  is  made  by  the  drove  from  the  moment  it  is  intercepted,  and  turned 
up  from  the  hauling-grounds,  to  the  time  of  its  destruction  at  the  hands  of  the  sealing-gang. 

This  disposition  of  the  old  seals  to  fight  rather  than  endure  the  panting  torture  of  travel,  is  of  great  advantage 
to  all  parties  concerned ;  for  they  are  worthless  commercially,  and  the  natives  are  only  too  glad  to  let  them  drop 
behind,  where  they  remain  unmolested,  eventually  returning  to  the  sea.  The  fur  on  them  is  of  little  or  no  value; 
their  under  wool  being  very  much  shorter,  coarser,  and  more  scant  than  in  the  younger;  especially  so  on  the 
posterior  parts  along  the  median  line  of  the  back. 

CHANGE  IN  PELAGE. — This  change  for  the  worse  or  deterioration  of  the  pelage  of  the  fur-seal  takes  place,  as 
a  rule,  in  the  fifth  year  of  their  age;  it  is  thickest  and  finest  in  texture  during  the  third  and  fourth  year  of  life; 
hence,  in  driving  the  seals  on  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  up  from  the  hauling-grounds  the  natives  make,  as  far  as 
practicable,  a  selection  from  males  of  that  age. 

"The  task  of  getting  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  going  out  to  the  several  hanling-gronnds,  closely  adjacent,  is  really  all  there  is 
of  the  labor  involved  in  securing  the  number  of  seals  required  for  the  day's  -work  on  the  killing-grounds.  The  two,  three,  or  four  natives 
npon  whom,  in  rotation,  this  duty  is  devolved  by  the  order  of  their  chief,  rise  at  first  glimpse  of  dawn,  between  1  and  2  o'clock,  and  hasten 
over  to  Lukannou,  Tolstoi,  or  Zoltoi,  as  the  case  may  be,  "walk  out"  their  "holluschickie",  and  have  them  duly  on  the  slaughtering-field 
before  6  or  7  o'clock,  as  a  rule,  in  the  morning.  In  favorable  weather  the  "drive"  from  Tolstoi  consumes  two  and  a  half  to  three  hours' 
time;  from  Lukaunon,  about  two  hours,  and  is  often  done  in  an  hour  and  a  half;  while  Zoltoi  is  so  near  by  that  the  time  is  merely 
nominal. 

I  heard  a  great  deafcof  talk  among  the  white  residents  of  St.  Paul,  when  I  first  landed  and  the  sealing-season  opened,  about  the 
necessity  of  "resting"  the  hauling-grounds ;  in  other  words,  they  said  that  if  the  seals  were  driven  in  repeated  daily  rotation  from  any 
one  of  the  hauling-grouuds,  that  this  would  so  disturb  these  animals  as  to  prevent  their  coming  to  any  extent  agaiu  thereon,  during  the 
rest  of  the  season.  This  theory  seemed  rational  enough  to  me  at  the  beginning  of  my  investigations,  and  I  was  not  disposed  to  question 
its  accuracy:  but,  subsequent  observation  directed  to  this  point  particularly,  satisfied  me,  and  the  sealers  themselves  with  whom  I  was 
associated,  that  the  driving  of  the  seals  had  no  effect  whatever  npon  the  hauling  which  took  place  soon  or  immediately  after  the  field,  for 
the  hour,  had  been  swept  clean  of  seals  by  the  drivers.  If  the  weather  was  favorable  for  landing,  i.  e.,  cool,  moist,  and  foggy,  the  fresh 
hauling  of  the  "holluschickie"  would  cover  the  bare  grounds  again  in  a  very  short  space  of  time — sometimes  in  a  few  hours  after  the 
driving  of  every  seal  from  Zoltoi  sands  over  to  the  killing-fields  adjacent,  those  dunes  and  the  beach  in  question  would  be  swarming 
anew  with  fresh  arrivals.  If,  however,  the  weather  is  abnormally  warm  and  sunny,  during  its  prevalence,  even  if  for  several  consecutive 
days,  no  seals  to  speak  of  will  haul  out  on  the  emptied  space;  indeed,  if  these  "holluschickie"  had  not  been  taken  away  by  man  from 
Zoltoi  or  any  other  hauling-ground  on  the  islands  when  "tayopli"  weather  prevailed,  most  of  those  seals  would  have  vacated  their 
terrestrial  loafing  places  for  the  cooler  embraces  of  the  sea. 

The  importance  of  clearly  understanding  this  fact  as  to  the  readiness  of  the  "holluschickie"  to  haul  promptly  out  on  steadily 
"swept"  ground,  provided  the  weather  is  inviting,  is  very  great:  because,  when  not  understood,  it  was  deemed  necessary,  even  as  late  as 
the  season  of  1872,  to  "rest"  the  hauliug-grounds  near  the  village  (from  which  all  the  driving  has  been  made  since),  and  make  trips  to 
far  away  PolavLna  and  distant  Zapaduie — an  unnecessary  expenditure  of  human  time,  and  a  causeless  infliction  of  physical  misery  upon 
phociue  backs  and  flippers.  , 


72  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

It  is  quite  impossible,  liowever,  to  get  them  all  of  one  age  without  an  extraordinary  amount  of  stir  and  bustle, 
which  the  Aleuts  do  not  like  to  precipitate;  hence  the  drive  will  be  found  to  consist  usually  of  a  bare  majority  of 
three  and  four-year-olds,  the  rest  being  two-year-olds  principally,  aud  a  very  few,  at  wide  intervals,  five-year-olds, 
the  yearlings  seldom  ever  getting  mixed  up. 

METHOD  OF  LAND  TRAVEL. — As  the  drove  progresses  along  the  path  to  the  slaughtering  grounds,  the  seals  all 
move  in  about  the  same  way;  they  go  ahead  with  a  kind  of  walking  step  and  a  sliding,  shambling  gallop.  The 
progression  of  the  whole  caravan  is  a  succession  of  starts,  spasmodic  and  irregular,  made  every  few  minutes,  the 
seals  pausing  to  catch  their  breath,  and  make,  as  it  were,  a  plaintive  survey  and  mute  protest.  Every  now  and 
then  a  seal  will  get  weak  in  the  lumbar  region,  then  drag  its  posteriors  along  for  a  short  distance,  finally  drop 
breathless  and  exhausted,  quivering  and  panting,  not  to  revive  for  hours — days,  perhaps — and  often  never.  During 
the  driest  driving-days,  or  those  days  when  the  temperature  does  not  combine  with  wet  fog  to  keep  the  path  moist 
and  cool,  quite  a  large  number  of  the  weakest  animals  in  the  drove  will  be  thus  laid  out  and  left  on  the  track.  If 
one  of  these  prostrate  seals  is  not  too  much  heated  at  the  time,  the  native  driver  usually  taps  the  beast  over  the 
head  and  removes  its  skin.* 

PROSTRATION  OP  FUR-SEALS  BY  HEAT. — This  prostration  from  exertion  will  always  happen,  no  matter  how 
carefully  they  are  driven;  and  in  the  longer  drives,  such  as  two  and  a  half,  and  five  miles  from  Zapadnie  on  the 
west,  or  Polavina  on  the  north,  to  the  village  at  St.  Paul,  as  much  as  three  or  four  per  cent,  of  the  whole  drive  will 
be  thus  dropped  on  the  road;  hence  I  feel  satisfied,  from  my  observation  and  close  attention  to  this  feature,  that  a 
considerable  number  of  those  that  are  thus  rejected  from  the  drove,  and  are  able  to  rally  and  return  to  the  water, 
die  subsequently  from  internal  injuries  sustained  on  the  trip,  superinduced  by  this  over-exertion.  I,  therefore, 
think  it  highly  improper  and  impolitic  to  extend  drives  of  the  "holluschickie"  over  any  distance  on  St.  Paul  island 
exceeding  a  mile,  or  a  mile  and  a  half;  it  is  better  for  all  parties  concerned,  and  the  business  too,  that  salt-houses 
be  erected,  and  killing- grounds  established  contiguous  and  to  all  of  the  great  hauling-grounds,  two  miles  distant 
from  the  village  on  St.  Paul  island,  should  the  business  ever  be  developed  above  the  present  limit;  or  should  the 
exigencies  of  the  future  require  a  quota  from  all  these  places,  in  order  to  make  up  the  100,000  which  may  be 
lawfully  taken. 

ABUNDANT  SUPPLY  OF  "HOLLUSCHICKIE". — As  matters  are  to-day,  100,000  seals  alone  on  St.  Paul  can  be  taken 
and  skinned  in  less  than  forty  working  days,  within  a  radius  of  one  mile  and  a  half  from  the  village,  and  from  the 
salt-house  at  Northeast  point;  hence  the  driving,  with  the  exception  of  two  experimental  droves  which  I  witnessed 
in  1872,  has  never  been  made  from  longer  distances  than  Tolstoi  to  the  eastward,  Lukannon  to  the  northward,  and 
Zoltoi  to  the  southward  of  the  killing-grounds  at  St.  Paul  village.  Should,  however,  an  abnormal  season  recur,  in 
which  the  larger  proportion  of  days  during  the  right  period  for  taking  the  skins  be  warmish  and  dry,  it  might  be 
necessary,  in  order  to  get  even  75,000  seals  within  the  twenty -eight  or  thirty  days  of  their  prime  condition,  for  drives 
to  be  made  from  the  other  great  hauling-grounds  to  the  westward  and  northward,  which  are  now,  and  have  been  for 
the  last  ten  years,  entirely  unnoticed  by  the  sealers. 

KILLING  THE  SEALS. — The  seals,  when  finally  driven  up  on  those  flats  between  the  east  lauding  and  the" 
village,  and  almost  under  the  windows  of  the  dwellings,  are  herded  there  until  cool  and  rested.  The  drives  are 
usually  made  very  early  in  the  morning,  at  the  first  breaking  of  day,  which  is  half-past  one  to  two  o'clock  of  June 
and  July  in  these  latitudes.  They  arrive,  and  cool  off  on  the  slaughtering-grounds,  so  that  by  six  or  seven  o'clock, 
after  breakfast,  the  able-bodied  male  population  turn  out  from  the  village  and  go  down  to  engage  in  the  work 
of  slaughter.  The  men  are  dressed  in  their  ordinary  working-garb  of  thick  flannel  shirts,  stout  cassimere  or 
canvas  pants,  over  which  the  "tarbossa"  boots  are  drawn;  if  it  rains  they  wear  their  "kamlaikas",  made  of  the 
intestines  and  throats  of  the  sea-lion  and  fur-seaf.  Thus  dressed,  they  are  each  armed  with  a  club,  a  stout  oaken 
or  hickory  bludgeon,  which  have  been  made  particularly  for  the  purpose  at  New  London,  Connecticut,  and  imported 
here  for  this  especial  service.  These  sealing  clubs  are  about  five  or  six  feet  in  length,  three  inches  in  diameter  at  their 
heads,  and  the  thickness  of  a  man's  forearm  where  they  are  grasped  by  the  hands.  Each  native  ftlso  has  his  stabbing- 
kuife,  his  skinning-knife,  and  his  whetstone ;  these  are  laid  upon  the  grass  convenient,  when  the  work  of  braining 
or  knocking  the  seals  down  is  in  progress.  This  is  all  the  apparatus  which  they  have  for  killing  and  skinning. 

THE  KILLING  GANG  AT  WORK. — When  the  men  gather  for  work  they  are  under  the  control  of  their  chosen 
foremen  or  chiefs;  usually  on  St.  Paul,  divided  into  two  working  parties  at  the  village,  and  a  sub-party  at 
Northeast  point,  where  another  salt-house  and  slaughtering-field  is  established.  At  the  signal  of  the  chief  the 
work  of  the  day  begins  by  the  men  stepping  into  the  drove,  corraled  on  the  flats;  and,  driving  out  from  it  100  or 

*The  fur-seal,  like  all  of  the  pinnipeds,  has  no  sweat-glands;  hence,  when  it  is  heated,  it  cools  off  by  the  same  process  of  panting  which 
is  so  characteristic  of  the  dog,  accompanied  by  the  fanning  that  I  have  hitherto  fully  described;  the  heavy  breathing  and  low  grunting  of 
a  tired  drove  of  seals,  on  a  warmer  day  than  usual,  can  be  heard  several  hundred  yards  away.  It  is  surprising  how  quickly  the  hair  and 
fur  will  come  out  of  the  skin  of  a  blood-heated  seal — literally  rubs  bodily  off  at  a  touch  of  the  finger.  A  fine  specimen  of  a  three-year-old 
"  holluschak  "  fell  in  its  tracks  at  the  head  of  the  lagoon  while  being  driven  to  the  village  killing-grounds.  I  asked  that  it  be  skinned  with 
special  reference  to  mounting;  accordingly  a  native  was  sent  for,  who  was  on  the  spot,  knife  in  hand,  within  less  than  30  minutes  from 
the  moment  that  this  seal  fell  in  the  road;  yet,  soon  after  he  had  got  fairly  to  work,  patches  of  the  fur  aud  hair  came  off  here  and  there 
•wherever  he  chanced  to  clutch  the  skin. 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


73 


Fig.  1. 


Fig.  2. 


150  seals  at  a  time,  make  -what  they  call  a  "pod",  which  they  surround  in  a  circle,  huddling  the  seals  one  on  another 
as  they  narrow  it  down,  untjl  they  are  directly  within  reach  and  under  their  clubs.  Then  the  chief,  after  he  has 
cast  his  experienced  eye  over  the  struggling,  writhing  "kantickie"  in  the  center,  passes  the  word  that  such  and 
such  a  seal  is  bitten,  that  such  and  such  a  seal  is  too  young,  that  such  and  such  a  seal  is  too  old ;  the  attention 
of  his  men  being  called  to  these  points,  he  gives  the  word  "strike",  and  instantly  the  heavy  clubs  come  down  all 
around,  and  every  one  that  is  eligible  is  stretched  out  stunned  and  motionless,  in  less  time,  really,  than  I  take  to 
tell  it.  Those  seals  spared  by  order  of  the  chief,  now  struggle  from  under  and  over  the  bodies  of  their  insensible 
companions  and  pass,  hustled  off  by  the  natives,  back  to  the  sea.* 

METHOD  OP  ALEUTS  IN  SKINNING  FUR-SEALS. — The  clubs  are  dropped,  the  men  seize  the  prostrate  seals  by 
the  hind-flippers,  and  drag  them  out, 
so  they  are  spread  on  the  ground  with- 
out touching  each  other;  then  every 
sealer  takes  his  bnife  and  drives  it 
into  the  heart  at  a  point  between  the 
fore-flippers  of  each  stunned  form ;  the 
blood  gushes  forth,  and  the  quivering 
of  the  animal  presently  ceases.  A 
single  stroke  of  a  heavy  oak  blud- 
geon, well  and  fairly  delivered,  will 
crush  in  at  once  the  slight,  thin  bones 
of  a  fur-seal's  skull,  and  lay  the  crea- 
ture out  almost  lifeless.  These  blows 
are,  however,  usually  repeated  two  or 
three  times  with  each  animal,  but  they 
are  very  quickly  done.  The  bleeding, 
which  is  immediately  effected,  is  so 
speedily  undertaken  in  order  that  the 
strange  reaction,  which  the  sealers 
call  "heating",  shall  be  delayed  for 
half  an  hour  or  so,  or  until  the  seals 
can  all  be  drawn  out,  and  laid  in  some 
disposition  for  skinning. 

I  have  noticed  that  within  less 
than  thirty  minutes  from  the  time  a 
perfectly  sound  seal  was  knocked 
down,  it  had  so  "heated",  owing  to 
the  day  being  warmer  and  drier  than 
usual,  that,  when  touching  it  with  my 
foot,  great  patches  of  hair  and  fur 
scaled  off.  This  is  a  rather  excep- 
tionally rapid  metamorphosis — it  will, 
however,  take  place  in  every  Instance, 
within  an  hour,  or  an  hour  and  a  half 
on  these  warm  days,  after  the  first  blow  is  struck,  and  the  seal  is  quiet  in  death;  hence  no  time  is  lost  by  the  prudent 
chief  in  directing  the  removal  of  the  skins  as  rapidly  as  the  seals  are  knocked  down  and  dragged  out.  If  it  is  a  cool 
day,  after  bleeding  the  first  "pod"  which  has  been  prostrated  in  the  manner  described,  and  after  carefully  drawing 
the  slain  from  the  heap  in  which  they  have  fallen,  so  that  the  bodies  will  spread  over  the  ground  just  free  from 
touching  one  another,  they  turn  to  and  strike  down  another  "  pod";  and  so  on,  until  a  whole  thousand  or  two  are  laid 
out,  or  the  drove,  as  corraled,  is  finished.  The  day,  however,  must  be  raw  and  cold  for  this  wholesale  method.  Then, 
after  killing,  they  turn  to  work,  and  skin ;  but,  if  it  is  a  warm  day,  every  pod  is  skinned  as  soon  as  it  is  knocked  down. 

The  labor  of  skinning  is  exceedingly  severe ;  and  is  trying  even  to  an  expert,  demanding  long  practice  ere  the 
muscles  of  the  back  and  thighs  are  so  developed  as  to  permit  a  man  to  bend  down  to,  and  finish  well,  a  fair  day's 

"The  aim  and  force  with  which  the  native  directs  his  blow,  determines  the  death  of  the  seal;  if  struck  direct  and  violently,  a  single 
stroke  is  enough ;  the  seals'  heads  are  stricken  so  hard  sometimes  that  those  crystaline  lenses  to  their  eyes  fly  out  from  the  orbital 
sockets  like  hail-stones,  or  little  pebbles,  and  frequently  struck  me  sharply  in  the  face,  or  elsewhere,  while  I  stood  near  by  watching  the 
killing-gang  at  work. 

A  singular  lurid  green  light  suddenly  suffuses  the  eye  of  the  fur-seal  at  intervals  when  it  is  very  much  excited,  as  the  "podding"  for 
the  clubbers  is  in  progress  ;  and,  at  the  moment  when  last  raising  its  head  it  sees  the  uplifted  bludgeons  on  every  hand  above,  fear  seems 
then  for  the  first  time  to  possess  it  and  to  instantly  gild  its  eye  in  this  strange  manner.  When  the  seal  is  brained  in  this  state  of  optical 
coloration,  I  have  noticed  that  the  opalescent  tinting  remained  well  defined  for  many  hours  or  a  whole  day  after  death ;  these  remarkable 
flushes  are  very  characteristic  to  the  eyes  of  the  old  males  during  their  hurly-burly  on  the  rookeries,  but  never  appear  in  the  youugtr 
classes  unless  as  just  described,  as  far  as  I  could  observe. 


The  skin  as  taken  therefrom. 


The  flensed  carcass  of  a  far-seal. 


74  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

work.  The  kuives  used  by  the  natives  for  skinning  are  ordinary  kitchen  or  case-handle  butcher-knives.  They  are 
sharpened  to  cutting  edges  as  keen  as  razors ;  but.  something  about  the  skins  of  the  seal,  perhaps  fine  comminuted 
sand  along  the  abdomen,  so  dulls  these  knives,  as  the  natives  work,  that  they  are  constantly  obliged  to  whet  them. 

The  body  of  the  seal,  preparatory  to  skinning,  is  rolled  over  and  balanced  squarely  on  its  back;  then  the 
native  makes  a  single  swift  cut  through  the  skin  down  along  the  neck,  chest,  and  belly,  from  the  lower  jaw  to  the 
root  of  the  tail,  using,  for  this  purpose,  his  long  stabbing  knife.*  The  fore-  and  hind-flippers  are  then  successively 
lifted,  as  the  man  straddles  the  seal  and  stoops  down  to  his  work  over  it,  and  a  sweeping  circular  incision  is  made 
through  the  skin  on  them  just  at  the  point  where  the  body-fur  ends;  then,  seizing  a  flap  of  the  hide  on  either  one 
side  or  the  other  of  the  abdomen,  the  man  proceeds  with  his  smaller,  shorter  butcher-knife,  rapidly  to  cut  the  skin, 
clean  and  free  from  the  body  and  blubber,  which  he  rolls  over  and  out  from  the  hide  by  hauling  up  on  it  as  he 
advances  with  his  work,  standing  all  this  time  stooped  over  the  carcass  so  that  his  hands  are  but  slightly  above  it, 
or  the  ground.  This  operation  of  skinning  a  fair-sized  "  holluschak  "  takes  the  best  men  only  one  minute  and  a 
half;  but  the  average  time  made  by  the  gang  on  the  ground  is  about  four  minutes  to  the  seal.  Nothing  is  left  of 
the  skin  upon  the  carcass,  save  a  small  patch  of  each  upper  lip  on  which  the  coarse  mustache  grows,  the  skin  on 
the  tip  of  the  lower  jaw,  the  insignificant  tail,t  together  with  the  bare  hide  of  the  flippers. 

BLUBBER  OF  PUR-SEAL:  UNPLEASANT  ODOR. — On  the  removal  of  the  skin  from  the  body  of  the  fur  seal, 
the  entire  surface  of  the  carcass  is  covered  with  a  more  or  less  dense  layer,  or  envelope,  of  a  soft,  oily,  fat  blubber, 
which  in  turn  completely  conceals  the  muscles  or  flesh  of  the  trunk  and  neck;  this  fatty  substance,  which  we  now 
see,  resembles  that  met  with  in  the  seals  generally  everywhere,  only  possessing  that  strange  peculiarity  not  shared 
by  any  other  of  its  kind,  of  being  positively  overbearing  and  offensive  in  odor  to  the  unaccustomed  human  nostril. 
The  rotting,  sloughing  carcasses  around  about  did  not,  when  stirred  up,  affect  me  more  unpleasantly  than  did 
this  strong,  sickening  smell  of  the  fur-seal  blubber.  It  has  a  character  and  appearance  intermediate  between  those 
belonging  to  the  adipose  tissue  found  on  the  bodies  of  cetacea  and  some  carnivora. 

This  continuous  envelope,  of  blubber,  to  the  bodies  of  the  "holluschickie"  is  thickest  in  deposit  at  those  points 
upon  the  breast  between  the  fore-flippers,  reaching  entirely  around  and  over  the  shoulders,  where  it  is  from  one  inch 
to  a  little  over  in  depth.  Upon  the  outer  side  of  the  chest  it  is  not  half  an  inch  in  thickness,  frequently  not  more 
than  a  quarter;  and  it  thins  out  considerably  as  it  reaches  the  median  line  of  the  back.  The  neck  and  head  are  clad 
by  an  unbroken  continuation  of  the  same  material,  which  varies  from  one-half  to  one-quarter  of  an  inch  in  depth. 
Toward  the  middle  line  of  the  abdominal  region  there  is  a  layer  of  relative  greater  thickness.  This  is  coextensive 
with  the  sterno  pectoral  mass ;  but  it  does  not  begin  to  retain  its  volume  as  it  extends  backward,  where  this 
fatty  investment  of  the  carcass  upon  the  loins,  buttocks,  and  hinder  limbs  fades  out  finer  than  on  the  pectoro- 
abdominal  parts,  and  assumes  a  thickening  corresponding  to  the  depth  on  the  cervical  and  dorsal  regions.  As  it 

*When  turning  the  stunned  and  senseless  carcasses,  the  only  physical  danger  of  which  the  sealers  run  the  slightest  risk,  during  the 
whole  circuit  of  their  work,  occurs  thus:  at  this  moment  the  prone  and  quivering  body  of  the  "holluschak"  is  not  wholly  inert,  perhaps, 
though  it  is  nine  times  out  of  ten ;  and,  as  the  native  takes  hold  of  a  fore-flipper  to  jerk  the  carcass  over  on  to  its  back,  the  half-brained 
seal  rouses,  snaps  suddenly  and  viciously,  often  biting  the  hands  or  legs  of  the  unwary  skinners,  who  then  come  leisurely  and  unconcernedly 
up  into  the  surgeon's  office  at  the  village,  for  bandages,  etc. ;  a  few  men  are  bitten  every  day  or  two  during  the  season  on  the  islands,  in 
this  manner,  but  I  have  flever  learned  of  any  serious  result  following  any  case. 

The  sealers,  as  might  be  expected,  become  exceedingly  expert  in  keeping  their  knives  sharp,  putting  edges  on  them  as  keen  as  razors, 
and  in  an  instant  detect  any  dullness,  by  passing  the  balls  of  their  thumbs  over  the  suspected  edges  to  the  blades. 

The  white  sealers  of  the  Antarctic  always  used  the  orthodox  butchers'  "  steel"  in  sharpening  their  knives,  but  these  natives  never 
have;  and,  probably  never  will  abandon  those  little  whet-stones  above  referred  to. 

During  the  Russian  management,  and  throughout  the  strife  in  killing  by  our  own  people  in  1868,  a  very  large  number  of  the  skins 
were  cut  through,  here  aud  there,  by  the  slipping  of  t-he  natives'  knives,  when  they  were  taking  them  from  the  carcasses,  and  ''flensing" 
them  from  the  superabundance,  in  spots,  of  blubber.  These  knife-cuts  throuph  the  skin,  no  matter  how  slight,  give  great  annoyance  to 
the  dresser;  hence  they  are  always  marked  down  in  price.  The  prompt  scrutiny  of  each  skin  on  the  islands,  by  the  agent  of  the  Alaska 
Commercial  company,  who  rejects  every  one  jof  them  thus  injured,  has  caused  the  natives  to  exercise  greater  care,  and  the  number  now  so 
damaged,  every  season,  is  absolutely  trilling. 

Another  source  of  small  loss  is  due  to  a  habit  which  the  "holluschickie  "  have  of  occasionally  biting  one  another  when  they  are  being 
urged  along  in  the  drives,  and  thus  crowded  once  in  a  while  one  upon  the  other;  usually  these  examples  of  "zoobiiden"  are  detected  by 
the  natives  prior  to  the  "knocking  down  ",  and  spared ;  yet  those  which  have  been  nipped  on  the  chest  or  abdomen  cannot  be  thus  noticed ; 
and,  until  the  skin  is  lifted,  the  damage  is  not  apprehended. 

t  This  tail  of  the  fur-seal  is  just  a  suggestion  of  the  article,  and  that  is  all.  Unlike  the  abbreviated  caudal  extremities  of  the  bear  or 
the  rabbit,  it  does  not  seem  to  bo  under  the  slightest  control  of  its  owner — at  least  I  never  could  sec  it  move  to  any  appreciable  degree,  when 
the  seal  is  in  action  on  land.  Certainly  there  is  no  service  required  of  it,  but  it  does  appear  to  me  rather  singular  that  none  of  the 
changeful  moods  of  Callorhinus  are  capable  of  giving  rise  to  even  a  tremor  in  its  short  stump  of  a  tail.  It  is  never  raised  or  depressed, 
and,  in  fact,  amounts  to  a  mere  excresence,  which  many  casual  observers  would  not  notice.  The  shrinking,  twitching  movements  of  the 
seal's  skin,  here  and  there  at  irregular  intervals,  are  especially  noticed  when  that  animal  is  asleep,  so  that  even  when  awake  I  believe  that 
the  dermatological  motion  is  an  involuntary  one.  The  tail  of  the  sea-lion  is  equally  inconsequential ;  that  of  the  walrus,  even  more  so, 
while  PTioca  vitidlna  has  one  a  trifle  longer,  relatively,  aud  much  stouter— fleshier  than  that  of  the  fur-seal. 

I  found  that  the  natives  here  were  pronounced  evolutionists,  as  are  all  the  many  Indian  tribes  with  which  I  have  been  thrown  in 
contact  during  my  travels  from  Mexico  to  the  head  of  the  Stickeeu  river.  They  declare  that  their  remote  ancestry  undoubtedly  were 
fur-seals;  indeed,  there  is  a  better  showing  for  the  brain  cases  of  the  fur-seal  over  that  of  the  monkey's  skull  as  to  weight  with  reference 
to  physical  bulk;  while  their  tails  are  as  short  or  oven  shorter  than  most  of  the  anthropoid  apes. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  75 

descends  on  the  limbs  this  blubber  thins  ont  very  pereeptibl y ;  and,  when  reaching  the  flippers  it  almost  entirely 
disappears  giving  way  to  a  glistening  aureolar  tissue,  while  the  flipper  skin  finally  descends  in  turn  to  adhere 
closely  and  firmly  to  the  tendinous  ligamentary  structures  beneath,  which  constitute  the  tips  of  the  Pinnipedia. 

The  flesh  and  the  muscles  are  not  lined  between,  or  within,  by  fat  of  any  kind.  This  blubber  envelope  contains 
it  all  with  one  exception — that  which  is  found  in  the  folds  of  the  small  intestine  and  about  the  kidneys,  where  there 
is  an  abundant  secretion  of  a  harder,  whiter,  though  still  offensive,  fat. 

FLESH  OF  FUE-SEAL  AS  AN  ARTICLE  OF  DIET. — It  is  quite  natural  for  our  people,  when  they  first  eat  a  meal 
on  the  Pribylov  islands,  to  ask  questions  in  regard  to  what  seal  meat  looks  and  tastes  like ;  some  of  the  white 
residents  will  answer,  saying  that  they  are  very  fond  of  it,  cooked  so  and  so ;  others  will  reply  that  in  no  shape 
or  manner  can  they  stomach  the  dish.  The  inquirers  must  needs  try  the  effect  on  their  own  palates.  I  frankly 
confess  that  I  had  a  slight  prejudice  against  seal  meat  at  first,  having  preconceived  ideas  that  it  would  be  fishy 
in  flavor,  but  I  soon  satisfied  myself  to  the  contrary,  and  found  that  the  flesh  of  young  seals,  not  over  three  years 
old,  was  full  as  appetizing  and  toothsome  as  most  of  the  beef,  mutton,  and  pork,  I  was  accustomed  to  at  home;  the 
following  precautions  must  be  rigidly  observed,  however,  by  the  cook  who  prepares  fur-seal  steaks  aud  sausage 
balls  for  our  delectation  and  subsistence — he  will  fail,  if  be  does  not: 

1st.  The  meat  must  be  perfectly  cleaned  of  every  vestige  of  blubber  or  fat,  no  matter  how  slight. 

2d.  Cut  the  flesh,  then,  into  very  thin  steaks  or  slices,  and  soak  them  from  six  to  twelve  hours  in  salt  and 
water  (a  tablespoon  of  fine  salt  to  a  quart  of  fresh  water);  this  whitens  the  meat,  and  removes  the  residuum  of  dark 
venous  blood  that  will  otherwise  give  a  slightly  disagreeable  taste,  hardly  definable,  though  existing. 

3d.  Fry  these  steaks,  or  stew  them  a  la  mode,  with  a  few  thin  slices  of  sweet  "breakfast"  bacon,  seasoning  with 
pepper  and  salt ;  a  rich  brown  gravy  follows  the  cooking  of  the  meat ;  serve  hot,  and  it  is,  strictly  judged,  a  very 
excellent  meal  for  the  daintiest  feeder — and  I  hereby  recommend  it  confidently  as  a  safe  venture  for  any  newcomer 
to  make. 

MEAT  OF  THE  SEA-LION. — The  flesh  of  young  sea-lions  is  still  better  than  that  of  the  fur-seal,  while  the  natives 
say  that  the  meat  of  the  hair-seal  (Plwca  vitulina)  is  superior  to  both,  being  more  juicy ;  fur-seal  meat  is  exceedingly 
dry,  hence  the  necessity  of  putting  bacon  into  the  frying-pan  or  stew-pot  with  it ;  sea-lion  flesh  is  an  improvement 
in  this  respect,  and  also  that  its  fat,  strange  to  say,  is  wholly  clear,  white,  and  inodorous,  while  the  blubber  of  the 
"holluschickie"  is  sickening  to  the  smell,  and  will,  nine  times  out  of  ten,  cause  any  civilized  stomach  to  throw  it  up 
as  quickly  as  it  was  swallowed.  The  natives,  however,  eat  a  great  deal  of  it  simply  because  they  are  too  lazy  to 
clean  their  fur-seal  cuts,  and  not  because  they  really  relish  it. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  add,  that  the  liver  of  both  CaUorJiinus  and  Eumetopias  is  sweet  and  whole- 
some; or,  in  other  words,  it  is  as  good  as  liver  usually  is  in  Fulton  market;  the  tongues  are  small,  white,  and  fat; 
they  are  regularly  cut  out  to  some  extent,  and  salted  in  ordinary  water-buckets  for  exportation  to  curious  friends; 
they  have  but  slight  claim  to  gastronomic  favor.  The  natives  are,  however,  very  partial  to  the  liver;  but,  though 
they  like  the  tongues,  yet  they  are  too  lazy  to  prepare  them.  A  few  of  them,  in  obedience  to  pressing  and  prayer- 
ful appeals  from  relatives  at  Oonalashka,  do  exert  themselves  enough  every  season  to  undergo  the  extra  labor  of 
putting  up  a  few  barrels  of  fresh  salted  &eal  meat,  which,  being  carried  down  to  Illoolook  by  the  company's  vessels, 
affords  a  delightful  variation  to  the  steady  and  monotonous  codfish  diet  of  the  Aleutian  islanders. 

OTHER  AUTHORITIES  ON  HAIR-SEAL  MEAT. — An  old  writer,  in  describing  men  and  things  in  the  western 
islands  of  Scotland  (Martin,  1716),  does  not  give  the  same  evidence  of  appreciation.  He  says  that  the  Scotch  there 
"salt  the  seals  with  the  ashes  of  burnt  sea-ware  [algoid  melanospermre],  and  say  they  are  good  food.  The  vulgar 
eat  them  commonly  in  the  spring  time,  with  a  long  pointed  stick  instead  of  a  fork,  to  prevent  the  strong  smell  which 
their  hands  otherwise  would  have  for  several  hours  afterward.  The  flesh  and  broth  of  fresh  young  seals  is,  by 
experience,  known  to  be  pectoral.  The  meat  is  astringent,  aud  used  as  an  effectual  remedy  against  diarrhea  and 
dysentery.  The  liver  of  a  seal  being  dried  and  pulverized,  and  afterward  a  little  of  it  drank  with  milk,  aquacitac, 
or  red  wine,  is  also  good  against  fluxes". 

Again,  "the  seal,  though  esteemed  only  fit  for  the  vulgar,  is  also  eaten  by  persons  of  distinction,  though  under 
a  different  name,  to  wit,  ham";  also,  a  pleasant  smile  involuntarily  arises  to  the  face  of  the  naturalist,  when  he  learns 
from  the  same  old  writer  that  "the  popish  vulgar  of  the  islands  to  the  southward  from  this  [island]  eat  these  seals 
in  Lent  instead  offish".  Martin  refers  to  Fhoca  fcetida,  I  think. 

NATIVES'  USE  OF  FUR-SEAL  FLESH  MEDICINALLY.— I  could  not  learn  from  the  natives  on  the  Pribylov  islands 
that  they  held  any  notions  of  medicinal  virtue  whatever  in  regard  to  the  flesh  of  the  fur-seal  or  other  pinnipeds 
indigenous.  They  do  make  certain  special  uses  of  the  liver,  gall,  testes,  etc.,  but  the  exact  application  I  could  not 
satisfactorily  determine.  They  considered  the  establishment  of  our  surgeon  and  pharmacy  as  a  direct  vote  of  censure 
upon  their  therapeutics,  and  were  too  willing  to  forget  what  they  knew  whenever  I  asked  leading  questions  on  the 
subject. 

FIRST  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  A  PHARMACY  :  NATIVES  THEIR  OWN  SURGEONS. — The  natives,  prior  to  the  transfer 
of  the  territory,  as  well  as  the  agents  and  employes  of  the  old  Enssian  company,  were  compelled  to  do  their  o'.vu 
doctoring  and  surgery  as  best  they  knew  how,  and  with  the  scanty  supply  of  natural  and  artificial  resource  at  their 
command.  They  may  Vie,  therefore,  truly  described  as  having  been  helpless  iu  the  presence  of  serious  physical  ailment. 


76  THE  FL3HEKIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

When  our  government  took  possession  of  Alaska,  they  brought  with  them,  however,  the  first  physicians  and 
supplies  that  had  ever  had  lodgment  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  and  when  these  officers  took  their  departure  with  the 
troops,  their  services  and  stores  were  naturally  suggested  as  desirable  of  continuance.  Accordingly,  the  Alaska 
Commercial  Company,  when  it  took  the  business  control  of  the  islands,  1870-'71,  promptly  established  a  doctor  and 
a  pharmacy  on  each  island,  and  latterly  a  small  hospital  has  been  erected  and  sustained  by  it  at  St.  Paul.  These 
physicians  are  agents  of  the  company,  Under  salary,  and  are  directed  to  give  their  time  and  attention  to  all 
illness  on  either  island,  free  of  charge;  also,  dispensing  needful  medicines,  etc.,  gratis.  Dr.  Otto  Cramer,  a  native 
of  Berlin,  was  the  surgeon  on  St.  Paul  during  my  sojourn  there,  and  I  recall  his  sad  death  at  sea  in  1875  with 
unfeigned  regret,  for  he  was  a  singularly  well-read  gentleman  and  an  accomplished  physician,  musician,  and 
scholarly  in  his  mind.  He  was  a  victim  to  acute  melancholia;  some  heavy  shadow  was  hanging  from  his  early  life 
over  him  which  none  of  us  cared  to  lift. 

STOLID  BEHAVIOR  OF  NATIVES  WHEN <  INJURED. — Dr.  Cramer  often  said,  speaking  of  the  peculiarities  of  the 
natives  when  sick  at  St.  Paul,  that  they  never  notified  him  of  their  illness  until  the  diseases  had  usually  got  so  firm 
hold  of  the  patients  as  to  baffle  all  medical  relief.  He  complained  that  they  would  let  the  old  shamanistic  doctress 
of  the  village  charm,  drug,  and  weary  the  sick  until  death  seemed  imminent,  and  then  stolidly  send  for  him.  "  Ochta, 
rnein  Gott!  too  late,  too  late,  such  people!"  he  would  usually  conclude  his  account  of  this  case  or  that,  as  it  might  be. 

NATIVE  METHODS  OF  COOKING. — The  native  cooking  is  now  all  done  in  their  houses,  on  small  cast-iron  stoves 
of  American  pattern  and  make.  In  olden  times  the  unavoidable  use  of  fur-seal  blubber  in  culinary  operations 
caused  the  erection,  outside  of  most  "barrabaras",  of  a  small  sod-walled  and  low  dirt-roofed  kitchen,  in  which  the 
strong-smelling  blubber-fires  were  kindled.  Indifferent  as  the  native  became  to  smells  and  smoke  in  the  filthy  life 
of  early  days  upon  these  islands,  yet  the  acrid,  stifling,  asthmatic  effect  of  the  blubber  clouds  never  failed  to  punish 
him  whenever  he  attempted  to  make  use  of  such  a  fire  in  his  living-room.  Most  of  these  "cookhnets",  or 
"povarniks",  were  in  full  blast  when  I  first  landed  at  St.  Paul,  and  coming  frequently  into  range  of  their  smoky 
effluvium,  I  was  infinitely  annoyed ;  now,  however,  the  complete  substitution  of  new  frame-houses  for  the  "  barrabkies" 
has,  I  believe,  caused  a  perfect  abatement  of  the  nuisance. 

The  people  of  the  seal-islands  indulge  in  very  liberal  quantities  of  boiled  seal  meat  and  tea ;  these  staples, 
together  with  hard  bread  or  soda  crackers,  form  the  routine  of  their  bill  of  fare,  as  far  as  cooking  goes,  varied 
at  wide  intervals  by  boiled  halibut,  stewed  or  roasted  birds,  and  the  queerly-scrambled  eggs  of  the  same.  The 
more  ancient  these  oological  viands,  the  better  for  Aleutian  gusto.  Some  of  the  women,  however,  have  learned 
to  bake  bread  and  biscuits,  but  this  consumes  too  much  of  the  scant  fuel  at  their  disposal  to  be  a  popular  or  general 
practice  among  them.  They  sit  at  tables  in  their  houses  now,  on  benches,  and  eat  from  plates  with  knives  and 
forks,  instead  of  squatting  around  an  iron  pot  on  the  "barrabkie"  floor  to  dip  in  sans  ceremonic  with  spoons,  ladles, 
and  grimy  fingers  as  in  "ye  olden  tyme".  They  have,  however,  one  sad  failing  developed  by  this  march  to  a  higher 
civilization,  and  that  is  the  determination  of  the  Aleutian  dish-washer  to  use  cold  water  on  her  greasy  plates. 

GREAT  SIZE  OF  THE  FUR-SEAL'S  HEART:  ITS  EXPANDED  LUNGS. — In  opening  many  hundreds  of  these  freshly- 
killed  seals,  after  skinning,  while  searching  in  vain  for  supposed  food-contents  of  their  stomachs,  I  was  impressed  by 
the  exceeding  size  of  the  heart,  and  the  perfect  organization  of  the  lungs;  while  the  volume  of  blood  in  proportion  to 
the  size  and  weight  is,  I  am  sure,  greater  in  the  fur-seal  than  in  any  other  animal.  The  enormous  lungs,  and  the 
veins  laid  bare,  showed  their  beautiful  adaptation  to  frequent  aquatic  submergence,  by  their  great  capacity  toward 
the  root  of  the  heart,  and  by  the  enormous  cava  or  hepatic  reservoir.  The  widened  aortic  arch  and  the  diminution 
of  the  abdominal  aorta  modify  the  blood-current,  of  which  the  vast  muscular  apparatus  of  the  forequarters  and  the 
large  brain  must  receive  the  major  share  of  supply  as  it  comes  from  the  enlarged  heart.* 

13.  MANNEE  OF  CARING  FOE  AND  SHIPPING  THE  FUE-SEAL  SKINS. 

CURING  THE  RAW  SKINS. — The  skins  are  taken  from  the  field  to  the  salt-house,  where  they  are  laid  out,  after 
being  again  carefully  examined,  one  upon  another,  "  hair  to  fat^',  like  so  many  sheets  of  paper,  with  salt  profusely 
spread  upon  the  fleshy  sides  as  they  are  piled  up  in  the  "  kenches",  or  bins.t  The  salt-house  is  a  large  barn-like 
frame  structure,  so  built  as  to  afford  one-third  of  its  width  in  the  center,  from  end  to  end,  clear  and  open  as  a  passage- 
way; while  on  each  side  are  rows  of  stanchions,  with  sliding  planks,  which  are  taken  down  and  put  up  in  the  form 
of  deep  bins,  or  boxes — "fceuches,"  the  sealers  call  them.  As  the  pile  of  skins  is  laid  at  the  bottom  of  an  empty 
"kench",  and  salt  thrown  in  on  the  outer  edges,  these  planks  are  also  put  in  place,  so  that  the  salt  may  be  kept 
intact  until  the  bin  is  filled  as  high  up  as  a  man  can  toss  the  skins.  After  lying  two  or  three  weeks  in  this  style 

*I  had  prepared  many  notes  upon  the  muscular  anatomy  of  the  fur-seal  and  the  sea-lion ;  but  I  find  that  it  has  been  anticipated  so 
•well  by  what  Dr.  Mnrie  published  in  the  transactions  of  the  Zoological  Society  of  London,  1869-'72,  as  to  render  their  reproduction  here 
quite  superfluous.  These  observations  of  Dr.  Murie  constitute  one  of  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  the  knowledge  of  the  anatomy 
of  this  animal  that  has  ever  been  made.  He  carefully  dissected  a  young  male  sea-lion  after  its  death,  which  had  been  brought  to  the 
Zoological  Society's  gardens  from  the  Falkland  islands. 

tThe  practice  of  curing  iu  early  times  was  quite  different  from  this  rapid  and  effective  process  of  salting.  The  skins  were  then  all 
air-dried;  pegged  out,  when  "green",  upou  the  ground,  or  else  stretched  upon  a  wooden  trellis  or  frame,  which  stood  like  a  rude  fence 


Plate  XV. 


Monograph— SEAL-ISLANDS. 


KENCHING    FUR-SEAL    SKINS. 

Interior  of  the  Salt-house  at  the  village,  St.  Paul  Island.     Natives  planting  the  pelts  in  the  curing 

bins  or  "  kenches  ;"  salting,  assorting,  etc. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  77 

• 

they  become  "pickled",  and  they  are  suited  then  at  any  time  to  be  taken  up  and  rolled  into. bundles,  of  two  skins 
to  the  package,  with  the  hairy  side  out,  tightly  corded,  ready  for  shipment  from  the  islands. 

AVERAGE  WEIGHT  OP  KAW  SKINS. — The  average  weight  of  a  two-year-old  skin  is  5£  pounds;  of  a  three- 
year-old  skin,  7  pounds;  and,  of  a  four-year-old  skin,  12  pounds;  so  that  as  the  major  portion  of  the  catch  is  two  or 
three  year-olds,  these  bundles  of  two  skins  each  have  an  average  weight  of  from  12  to  15  pounds.  In  this  shape 
they  go  into  the  hold  of  the  company's  steamer  at  St.  Paul,*  and  are  counted  out  from  it  in  San  Francisco.  Then 
they  are  either  at  once  shipped  to  London  by  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  in  the  same  shape,  only  packed  up  in  large 
hogsheads  of  from  20  to  40  bundles  to  the  package,  or  expressed  by  railroad,  via  New  York,  to  the  same  destination. 

PACKING  SKINS  FOB  SHIPMENT. — The  work  of  bundling  the  skins  is  not  usually  commenced  by  the  natives 
until  the  close  of  the  last  week's  sealing;  or,  in  other  words,  those  skins 
which  they  first  took,  three  weeks  ago,  are  now  so  pickled  by  the  salt 
in  which  they  have  been  lying  ever  since,  as  to  render  them  eligible  for 
this  operation  and  immediate  shipment.  The  moisture  of  the  air  dissolves 
and  destroys  a  very  large  quantity  of  the  saline  preservative  which  the 
company  brings  up  annually  in  the  form  of  rock-salt,  principally  obtained 
at  Carmen  island,  Lower  California. 

LAW  PROTECTING  THE  SEALS. — The  Alaska  Commercial  Company, 
by  the  provisions  of  law  under  which    they  enjoy  their  franchise,  are  A  bundle  of  two  skins, 

permitted  to  take  100,000  male  seals  annually,  and  no  more,  from  the  Pribylov  islands.  This  they  do  in  June  and 
July  of  every  year.  After  that  season,  the  skins  rapidly  grow  worthless,  as  the  animals  enter  into  shedding,  and, 
if  taken,  would  not  pay  for  transportation  and  the  tax.  These  natives  are  paid  40  cents  a  skin  for  the  labor,  and 
they  keep  a  close  account  of  the  progress  of  the  work  every  day ;  they  do  so,  as  it  is  all  done  by  them,  and  they 
know  within  50  skins,  one  way  or  the  other,  when  the  whole  number  have  been  secured  each  season.  This  is  the 
only  occupation  of  the  398  people  here,  and  they  naturally  look  well  after  it.  The  interest  and  close  attention  paid 
by  these  natives,  on  both  islands,  to  the  "holluschickie"  and  this  business,  was  both  gratifying  and  instructive  to 
me  during  my  residence  there. 

ERRONEOUS  POPULAR  IDEAS. — The  common  or  popular  notion  in  regard  to  seal-skins  is,  that  they  are  worn 
by  those  animals  just  as  they  appear  when  offered  for  sale;  that  the  fur-seal  swims  about,  exposing  the  same  soft 

adjacent  to  the  killing-grounds ;  it  was  the  accumulation  of  such  air-dried  skins  from  the  Pribylov  islands,  at  Sitka,  which  rotted  so  in 
1803,  that  "  750,000  of  them  wer»cnt  up,  or  thrown  out  into  the  sea",  completely  destroyed.  Had  they  been  treated  as  they  now  are,  such 
a  calamity  and  hideous  waste  could  not  have  occurred. 

The  method  of  air-drying  which  tbe  old  settlers  employed,  is  well  portrayed  by  the  practice  of  the  natives  now,  who  treat  a  few 
hundred  sea-lion  skins  to  the  process  every  fall ;  preparing  them  thus  for  shipment  to  Oonalashka,  where  they  are  used  by  brother  Aleuts 
in  covering  their  bidarkies  or  kyacks. 

The  natives,  in  speaking  to  me  of  this  matter,  said  that  whenever  the  weather  was  rough  and  the  wind  blowing  hard,  these  air-dried 
seal-skins,  as  they  were  tossed  from  the  bidarrah  to  the  ship's  deck,  numbers  of  them  would  frequently  turn  in  the  wind  and  fly  clean 
over  the  vessel  into  the  water  beyond,  where  they  were  lost. 

Under  the  old  order  of  affairs,  prior  to  the  present  management,  the  skins  were  packed  up  and  carried  on  the  backs  of  the  boys  and 
girls,  women  and  old  men,  to  the  salt-houses,  or  drying-frames.  When  I  first  arrived,  season  of  1872,  a  slight  variation  was  made  in  this 
respect,  by  breaking  a  small  Siberian  bull  into  harness  and  hitching  it  to  a  cart,  in  which  the  pelts  were  hauled.  Before  the  cart  was 
adjusted,  however,  and  the  "  buik"  taught  to  pull,  it  was  led  out  to  the  killing-grounds,  by  a  ring  in  its  nose,  and  literally  covered  with 
the  green  seal-hides,  which  were  thus  packed  to  the  keuches.  The  natives  were  delighted  with  even  this  partial  assistance;  but  now  they 
have  no  further  concern  about  it  at  all,  for  several  mules  and  carts  render  prompt  and  ample  service.  They  were  introduced  here,  first,  in 
1874.  TJie  Russian- American  Company  and  also  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  have  brought  up  three  or  four  horses  to  St.  Paul, 
but  they  have  been  unfortunate  in  losing  them  all  soon  after  lauding,  the  voyage  and  the  climate  combined  being  inimical  to  equine 
health ;  but  the  mules  of  the  present  order  of  affairs  have  been  successful  in  their  transportation  to  and  residence  on  the  Pribylov  islands. 
One,  the  first  of  these  horses  just  referred  to,  perhaps  did  not  have  a  fair  chance  for  its  life.  It  was  saddled  one  morning,  and  several 
camp-kettles,  coffee-pots,  etc.,  slung  on  the  crupper  for  the  use  of  the  Russian  agent,  who  was  going  up  to  Northeast  point  for  a  week  or 
ten  days'  visit.  He  got  into  the  saddle,  and  while  en  route,  near  Polavina,  a  kettle  or  pot  broke  loose  behind,  the  alarmed  horse  kicked  its 
rider  promptly  off,  and  disappeared  on  a  full  run,  in  the  fog,  going  toward  the  bogs  of  Kammiuista,  where  its  lifeless  and  fox  gnawed 
body  was  found  several  days  afterward. 

*  The  shallow  depths  of  Bering  sea  give  rise  to  a  very  bad  surf,  and  thongh  none  of  the  natives  can  swim,  as  far  as  I  could  learn,  yet 
they  are  quite  creditable  surfmen,  and  work  the  heavy  "baidar"  in  and  out  from  the  landing  adroitly  and  circumspectly.  They  put  a 
seutinel  upon  the  bluffs  over  Xah  Speel,  and  go  and  come  between  the  rollers  as  he  signals.  They  arc  not  graceful  oarsmen  under  any 
circumstances,  but  can  pull  heartily  and  coolly  together  when  in  a  pinch.  The  apparent  ease  and  unconcern  with  which  they  handled 
their  bidarrah  here  in  the  "baroou"  during  the  fall  of  1889,  so  emboldened  three  or  four  sailors  of  the  United  States  Revenue  Marine 
cutter  "Lincoln"  that  they  lost  their  lives  in  that  surf  through  sheer  carelessness.  The  "gig"  in  which  they  were  coming  ashore 
"broached  to"  in  the  breakers  just  outside  of  the  cove,  and  their  lifeless  forms  were  soon  alter  thrown  up  by  the  merciless  waves  on  the 
Lagoon  rookery.  Three  graves  of  these  men  are  plainly  marked  on  the  slope  of  the  Black  Bluffs. 

There  is  a  false  air  of  listlessness  and  gentleness  about  an  open  sea,  or  roadstead  roller,  that  is  very  apt  to  deceive  even  watermen  of 
good  understanding.  The  crushing,  overwhelming  power  with  which  an  ordinary  breaker  will  hurl  a  large  ship's  boat  on  rocks  awash, 
must  be  personally  experienced  ere  it  is  half  appreciated. 

The  bundled  skins  are  carried  from  the  salt -houses  to  the  baidar,  when  the  ordei  for  shipment  is  given,  and  pitched  into  that  lighter 
one  by  one,  to  be  rapidly  stowed;  700  to  1,200  bundles  make  the  average  single  load;  then,  when  alongside  the  steamer,  they  are  again 
tossed  up,  aud  on  her  deck,  from  whence  they  are  stowed  in  the  hold. 


78  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

• 

coat  with  which  our  ladies  of  fashion  so  delight  to  cover  their  tender  forms  during  inclement  winter.  This  is  a  very 
great  mistake ;  few  skins  are'less  attractive  than  is  the  seal-skin  when  it  is  taken  from  the  creature.  The  fur  is  not 
visible;  it  is  concealed  entirely  by  a  coat  of  stiff  overhair,  dull,  gray-brown,  and  grizzled.  It  takes  three  of  them 
to  make  a  lady's  sacqne  and  boa ;  and  in  order  that  the  reason  for  their  costliness  may  be  apparent,  I  tafce  great 
pleasure  in  submitting  a  description  of  the  tedious  and  skillful  labor  necessary  to  their  dressing  ere  they  are  fit  for 
sale,  which  will  be  found-  in  the  appendix. 

SKETCH  OF  THE  Russio-CniNA  TRADE  IN  FUR-SEAL  PELTRIES. — During  the  whole  of  the  extended  period, 
from  1799  to  18G7,  inclusive,  the  Russians  shipped  and  sold  nearly  all  of  the  fur-seal  skins  that  were  taken  from  the 
Pribylov  islands,  in  that  great  international  mart  of  Kiachta,  on  the  Chinese  frontier.  Since  the  Americans  have 
taken  control,  the  sales  have  all  been  practically  made  in  London.  The  Alaska  Commercial  Company  sells  every 
one  of  its  skins  from  the  Pribylov  and  Commander  groups  there,  in  the  same  wareroom  where  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company,  when  it  had  a  thrifty  existence  and  was  a  power,  used  to  auction  its  furs  annually.  As  millions  of  the 
air-dried  pelts  taken  from  the  seal-islands  of  Alaska  have  been  bartered  in  the  China-Russian  station,  a  brief 
description  of  Kiachta  may  be  interesting. 

Prior  to  1722,  the  Russians  enjoyed  a  treaty  with  China  which  sanctioned  the  individual  traveling  of  Muscovitic 
traders  direct  from  the  frontier  to  Pekin ;  after  a  period  of  three  and  thirty  years,  the  Russians  were  abruptly 
and  entirely  deprived  of  those  coveted  commercial  privileges.  After  all  intercourse  between  the  two  countries 
Lad  ceased  for  five  years,  the  Russians  obtained  a  new  treaty  in  1728,  by  which,  in  order  to  prevent  .future 
misunderstandings,  the  international  trade,  as  far  at  least  as  private  individuals  were  concerned,  should  be 
conducted  on  the  boundary  line,  exactly  upon  the  same  spot  where  this  new  treaty  was  negotiated.  Here 
Kiachta  was  built,  though  she  still  had  a  rival  in  Pekin;  for,  by  the  provisions  of  the  new  treaty,  government 
trading  caravans  were  allowed  to  penetrate  to  the  capital  of  the  Chinese  empire.  But,  in  1762,  Catharine  the  Second 
relinquished  this  imperial  monopoly,  and  that  action  at  once  rendered  this  little  town  the  grand  and  sole  emporium 
of  commerce  between  Russia  and  China. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  KIACHTA. — Kiachta,  then,  as  now,  stands  on  a  rivulet  of  the  same  name,  which,  rising  in 
in  Siberia  and  crossing  the  frontier  line,  washes  the  foundations  of  Maimatschin,  a  China  town  "only  a  few  miles 
away.  Taken  by  itself,  it  is  beset  on  all  sides  by  rugged  mountains;  and  the  streamlet  which  forms  a  bond  of 
union  between  these  large  empires  of  Asia  is  so  tiny  that,  even  by  the  aid  of  damming,  it  often  fails  to  afford  an 
adequate  supply  of  water  to  the  four  .or  five  thousand  dwellers  on  its  banks.  These  two  small  settlements,  Kiachta 
and  Maimatschin,  are  situated  as  nearly  as  possible  on  the  fiftieth  parallel  of  latitude,  being  about  1,000  miles  from 
Pekin  and  4,000  from  Moscow.  Though  the  Chinese  route  is  much  the  shortest  on  ^he  map,  it  is  practically  as 
hard  a  journey ;  for  at  a  distance  of  about  a  week's  march  from  Pekin,  the  Chinese  have  a  forty  days'  tramp,  and 
upward,  over  a  dismal  desert  of  table-land.  It  is  parched  with  heat  during  one-half  of  the  year,  and  covered 
with  snow  during  the  other.  The  Russians,  however,  whether  they  come  from  the  west  with  manufactured  goods, 
or  from  the  north  and  east  with  fnrs,  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  peopled  country  and  of  navigable  waters  nearly  all 
the  way  to  Irkutsk,  and  when  they  have  met  at  this,  the  common  center  of  all  the  lines  of  communication,  they 
may,  and  often  do,  prosecute  the  rest  of  their  journey  to  the  very  neighborhood  of  Kiachta  by  crossing  lake  Baikal 
and  ascending  its  principal  tributary,  the  Selenga  river. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  TRADE. — The  Russian  traders  bring  chiefly  furs,  woolens,  cottons,  and  linens,  while  the 
Chinese  bring  teas  principally,  also  silks,  and  sugar-candy;  thus  the  seal-skins  of  Alaska  were  wont  to  go  first 
from  the  seal-islands  to  Sitka  ;  there  they  were  assorted  and  put  up  into  square  bales,  about  3  feet  by  2,  pressing 
the  bundles  in  an  old  fashioned  hand-lever  press,  and  cording  them  while  under  this  pressure;  then  envelopes  of 
green  walrus  hide  were  sewed  over  them,  and  the  packages,  duly  numbered,  went  to  the  Okotsk  by  ship,  then  to 
Kiachta  by  pack-horses,  where  the  buyers  of  Pekin  finally  inspected  and  purchased  them,  giving  in  exchange  the 
celebrated  black  teas  of  Maimatschin,  the  finest  brands  in  all  Mongolia,  and  produced  only  in  the  north  of  China, 
and  which  can  be  more  cheaply  transported  from  thence  to  Siberia  than  to  Canton. 

CHINESE  DISPOSITION  OF  FUR-SEAL  PELTRIES. — The  Chinese  buyers  sent  their  Pribylov  peltries  down  to 
their  home-markets  on  camels,  and  in  carts  drawn  by  oxen,  to  Kalgan,  where  the  seal-skins  were  again  sold  to 
other  dealers,  who  carried  them  to  the  ultimate  retail  trade. 

VOLUME  OF  KIACHTA  TRADE  IN  1837. — What  the  fur-trade  of  Kiachta  to-day  is,  even  though  the  rare  skin  of 
Callorhinus  is  seldom  seen,  I  can  find  no  data;  but  in  1837  the  native  land  furs  were  represented  by  a  value  of 
7,406,188  roubles,  and  the  peltries  from  Russian  America,  including  the  fur-seals,  sea-otter,  and  all  the  Alaskan 
land  catch,  was  1,600,000  roubles.  How  many  fur  seals  were  sold  in  this  aggregate,  I  cannot  ascertain,  but  the 
scanty  yield  during  the  two  and  three  years  preceding  would  not  warrant  any  considerable  showing. 

CHINESE  TRADERS. — The  Chinese  at  Kiachta  were  at  first  much  more  shrewd  in  their  bargains  than  were 
their  Russian  neighbors;  but  the  Slavonic  instincts  did  not  need  much  brushing  up  ere  they  were  fully  equal 
to  all  emergencies ;  the  methods  of  the  Chinese  in  selecting  seal-skins  were  elaborate  and  lengthy — each  pelt  was 
handled  and  measured,  then  a  little  metal  tag  attached  on  which  the  result  was  recorded.  1  find  a  great  deal  of 
confusion  iu  the  data  at  my  command  as  to  what  the  average  price  was  in  this  market,  because  the  Russians  took 


THE  -FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  79 

all  ages,  and  at  all  stages  of  the  season,  from  June  to  December;  consequently,  the  number  of  really  prime  skins 
was  small  compared  with  the  whole  aggregate  sold;  the  best  pelts  brought  from  "10  to  15  roubles  "=$8  to  $12.50; 
the  average  sales  were  made,  however,  as  low  as  from  $4  to  $5  per  skin.  Techmainov  gives  the  most  information 
touching  the  value  of  Russian  American  furs  in  those  times,  that  I  can  find ;  but,  in  regard  to  specific  figures  for  the 
fur-seal  quotations,  he  is  only  vague  and  general,  the  reason  doubtless  being  that  the  whole  volume  of  trade  at 
Kiachta  was  and  is  exclusively  one  of  barter,  without  the  intervention  of  coin  on  either  side. 

SEASON  OF  KIACHTA  COMMERCE. — The  business  life  of  Kiachta  is  never  fully  aroused  until  winter  has  well  set 
in,  continuing  until  spring.  There  is  no  written  regulation  to  this  effect,  but  it  has  the  force  of  law  through  habit. 
In  disposing  of  their  commodities,  the  Chinese  have  considerable  local  advantage,  because  their  teas  never  remain 
a  single  season  unsold  at  Maiinatschin,  while  the  Eussian  goods,  partly  through  a  diminution  of  the  demand,  and 
partly  through  the  artifices  of  the  Celestials,  are  often  so  depreciated  in  value  as  to  have  to  wait  two  and  three 
years  for  a  market. 

DEMAND  OF  CHINESE  FOR  FURS. — The  Chinese  have  from  time  immemorial  been  solicitous  purchasers  of  furs. 
The  northern  provinces  of  their  dominions  are  not  only  subjected  to  an  extremely  rigorous  winter  climate,  but  are 
those  where  the  most  wealthy  reside,  because  the  best  teas  of  the  Celestial  Empire  grow  there;  hence  the  desire 
for  fur  robes  and  garments  as  measures  of  comfort  during  cold  weather  is  universal  among  the  inhabitants ;  they 
constitute  an  important  part  of  the  wardrobe  of  every  important  Chinaman  throughout  all  "Kathay".  A  Russian 
authority,  Paul  von  Krusenstern,  says:  "With  the  least  change  of  air  the  Chinese  immediately  alter  their  dress; 
and  even  at  Canton,  which  is  within  the  confines  of  the  tropics,  they  wear  furs  in  the  winter." 

FIRST  TRAFFIC  i.\  FURS  BETWEEN  AMERICA  AKD  CHINA. — It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  until  Captain  John  Gore 
anchored,  December  18,  1779,  near  Canton  with  the  ships  of  Cook's  last  voyage,  fioni  Kamtchatka  and  the 
northward,  the  furs  which  these  English  seamen  then  offered  to  the  Chinese  forsale  were  the  first  peltries  ever 
brought  into  their  markets  by  sea.  The  Chinese  had  hitherto  gained  everything  of  this  character  from  without 
their  precincts,  by  overland  trade  with  Siberian  merchants,  or  from  the  Burmese  frontier  via  Bhamo. 

When  Captain  Gore,  the  surviving  senior  officer  of  Cook's  last  voyage,  1776-'80,  returned  to  England,  he  found 
that  war  was  existing  with  the  United  States,  France,  and  Spain;  the  British  government  determined  to  withhold 
from  the  world  all  information  of  the  voyage;  hence  it  was  not  until  the  winter  of  17S4-'8o  that  it  was  published. 
The  statements  contained  in  this  work  respecting  the  great  abundance  of  animals  yielding  fine  furs  on  the  northwest 
coast,  and  the  successful  pecuniary  bartering  of  the  ships  at  Canton,  stirred  up  a  great  many  active  men  who  fitted 
out  vessels  for  the  traffic.  The  first  individual  trader  from  the  south  on  the  northwest  coast, "was  John  Banna, 
an  Englishman,  who  sailed  from  Canton,  May,  1785,  and  tilled  his  little  schooner  with  sea-otter  skins  at  Nootka; 
then  Portlock  and  Dixon,  and  Meares,  in  1786 ;  Gray  and  Kendrick,  the  first  Americans,  in  1787,  head  a  long  list  of 
traders  who  came  successively  after  them.  In  no  record  whatever  of  this  pelagic  fur  trade  can  I  find  any  mention 
made  of  the  skin  of  the  fur-seal,  nor  the  slightest  hint  whatever  until  the  period  of  the  Fraser  river  gold  excitement, 
in  1802,  when  the  first  quotation  of  a  fur  seal  skin  is  made,  taken  at  sea  off  the  straits  of  Fuca. 

WHAT  THE  RUSSIANS  KNEW  OF  THE  BUSINESS. — Perhaps  the  best,  and  an  entirely  correct,  epitome  of  what 
the  Russians  at  headquarters  of  the  company  in  Sitka  really  knew,  biographically  and  commercially,  of  the  fur-seal, 
is  embodied  in  the  following  words  of  Governor  Simpson,  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  who,  in  1841-'42,  was  the 
guest  of  Governor  Etholine.  He  had  supreme  control  of  Alaskan  life  and  trade  then,  and  gave  to  his  English 
official  peer,  doubtless,  all  the  knowledge  which  he  possessed: 

Some  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago  there  was  a  most  -wasteful  destruction  of  the  seal,  when  yonng  and  old,  rrale  and  female,  were 
indiscriminately  knocked  on  the  head.  This  imprudence,  as  any  one  might  have  expected,  proved  detrimental  in  two  ways.  The  race 
was  almost  extirpated  ;  aud  the  market  was  glutted  to  such  a  degree,  at  the  rate  for  some  time  of  two  hundred  thousand  skins  a  year, 
that  the  prices  did  not  even  pay  the  expenses  of  carriage.  The  Eussians,  however,  have  now  adopted  nearly  the  same  plan  which  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company  pursues,  in  recruiting  any  of  its  exhausted  districts,  killing  only  a  limited  number  of  such  males  as  have  attained 
their  full  growth,  a  plan  peculiarly  applicable  to  the  fur-seal,  inasmuch  as  its  habits  render  the  system  of  husbanding  the  stock  as  easy 
and  certain  as  that  of  destroying  it. 

In  the  month  of  May,  with  something  like  the  regularity  of  an  almanac,  the  fur-seals  make  their  appearance  at  the  island  of  St.  Paul, 
one  of  the  Aleutian  group.  Each  old  male  brings  a  herd  of  females  under  his  protection,  varying  in  number  according  to  his  size  and 
strength.  The  weaker  brethren  are  obliged  to  content  themselves  with  half  a  dozen  wives,  while  some  of  the  sturdier  and  fiercer  fellows 
preside  over  harems  that  are  two  hundred  strong.  From  the  date  of  their  arrival  in  May  to  that  of  their  departure  in  October,  the  whole 
of  them  are  principally  ashore  on  the  beach.  The  females  go  down  to  the  sea  once  or  twice  a  day,  while  the  male,  morning,  noon,  and 
night,  watches  his  charge  -with  the  utmost  jealousy,  postponing  even  the  pleasures  of  eating  and  drinking  and  sleeping  to  the  duty  of 
keeping  his  favorites  together.  If  any  young  gallant  ventures  by  stealth  among  any  senior  chief's  bevy  of  beauties,  he  generally  atones 
for  his  imprudence  with  his  life,  being  torn  to  pieces  by  the  old  fellow,  and  such  of  the  fair  ones  as  may  have  given  the  intruder  any 
encouragement  are  pretty  sure  to  catch  it  in  the  shape  of  some  secondary  punishment.  The  ladies  are  in  (he  straw  about  a  fortnight  after 
they  arrive  at  St.  Paul;  about  two  or  three  weeks  afterward  they  lay  the  single  foundation,  being  all  that  is  necessary,  of  next  season's 
proceeding,  and  the  remainder  of  their  sojourn  they  devote  exclusively  to  the  rearing  of  their  young.  At  last  the  whole  band  departs,  no 
one  knows  whither.  The  mode  of  capture  is  this:  at  the  proper  time  tic  whole  are  driven,  like  a  flock  of  sheep,  to  the  establishment, 
which  is  a  mile  distant  from  the  si/a,  and  there  the  males  of  four  years,  with  the  exception  of  the  few  that  are  left  to  keep  up  the  breed, 
are  separated  from  the  rest  and  killed.  In  the  days  of  promiscuous  massacre  such  of  the  mothers  as  had  lost  their  pups  would  ever  and 
anon  return  to  the  establishment,  absolutely  harrowing  up  the  sympathies  of  the  wives  and  the  daughters  of  the  hunters,  accustomed  as 
they  were  to  such  scenes,  with  their  doleful  lamentations. 


80  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  fur-seal  attains  the  age  of  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  but  not  more.  The  females  do  not  bring  forth  young  till  they  are  five  years 
old.  The  hunters  have  frequently  marked  their  ears  each  season,  and  many  of  the  animals  have  been  notched  in  this  way  ten  times,  but 
very  few  of  them  oftener. 

Under  the  present  system,  the  fur-seals  are  increasing  rapidly  in  number.  Previously  to  its  introduction,  the  animal  hunts  had 
dwindled  down  to  three  and  four  thousand.  They  have  now  gradually  got  up  to  thrice  that  amount,  and  they  are  likely  soon  to  equal  the 
full  demand,  not  exceeding  thirty  thousand  skins,  ofthe  Russian  government.* 

It  is  valuable,  as  showing  that,  as  long  ago  as  1841-'42,  under  Eussian  management,  more  than  30,000  skins 
per  annum  would  be  a  loss,  and  not  profitable  to  take  from  the  seal-islands.  Also,  that,  though  the  tardy 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  females  should  not  be  slaughtered  was  made  on  the  Pribylov  islands  shortly  prior  to 
1841-'42,  yet  suitable  regulations  had  not  yet  been  made  for  the  management  of  the  business,  inasmuch  as  all 
classes,  "  as  a  whole,"  were  driven  to  the  killing-grounds.  This  harassed  and  disturbed  the  females  quite  as  badly 
as  if  killed  outright.  In  1845  the  present  order  of  implicit  non-trespass  upon  the  breeding-rookeries  was  first 
established,  and  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  find  the  name  of  the  intelligent  Eussian  who  promulgated  it,  so  that  it 
might  be  known  and  respected,  as  it  so  well  deserves. 

No  FUR-SEALS  KNOWN  TO  EARLY  TRADE. — The  homely,  yet  explicit,  letters  of  William  Beresford  should  be 
noticed,  for  he  sailed  from  London  in  1797-'98,  as  a  trader  with  Portlock  and  Dixon,  and  he  gives,  perhaps,  the 
only  straightforward  synopsis  of  the  fur-trade  of  the  northwest  coast  as  it  was  then.  He  reviews  the  subject  as  it 
presents  itself  to  him  from  Cook's  inlet  to  Cape  Mendocino,  in  the  series  of  field-notes  which  are  printed  and  form 
the  body  and  soul  of  Dixon's  Voyage. 

Nowhere  does  the  author  mention  the  fur-seal  in  this  narrative,  covering  as  it  does  two  years'  cruising  between 
Kadiak  and  Cape  Flattery.  He  evidently  had  not  even  heard  of  it,  though  at  the  time  the  Eussians  were  working 
the  Pribylov  islands  barbarously,  taking  hundreds  of  thousands  of  skins. 

When  I  first  went  to  the  northwest  coast,  May,  1865,  I  learned  from  the  venerable  Doctor  Tolmie,  a  recently 
retired  chief  factor  of  the  Vancouver  (Hudson  Bay  Company's)  district,  a  great  deal  of  the  fur-bearing  animals  of 
that  country,  as  known  to  the  celebrated  company  which  he  had  represented.  I  find  no  mention  in  my  memoranda 
made  at  the  time,  that  he  indicated  the  skin  of  the  fur-seal  as  one  of  the  long  list  of  items  of  trade;  and  while  I  was 
in  that  country  between  the  Stikeeu  mouth  and  Puget  sound,  1865-'(57,  inclusive,  I  never  heard  a  single  word  of  the 
fur-seal,  and  I,  myself,  then  never  recognized  its  name.  I  do  not  think,  therefore,  it  worth  while  to  discuss  the  idle 
rumors,  now  prevalent  to  some  extent,  as  to  the  "fact"  that  the  fur-seal  is  breeding  in  some  lonely  nook  here  and 
there  along  the  coast.  The  Indians  would  have  known  it  full  well  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  such  anxious  seekers 
after  choice  peltries  as  William  Beresford  and  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  would  have  profited  accordingly. 

PELAGIC  FUR-SEALING  A  RECENT  ENTERPRISE. — Fur-seals  then,  as  now,  were  annually  seen  in  all  probability 
by  the  natives  of  the  coast  at  sea,  between  Prince  of  Wales  island  and  the  Columbia  river;  but,  either  they  were 
not  deemed  worthy  of  the  labor  in  capture,  or  else  the  superior  value  of  the  sea-otter  chase  drew  every  attention 
of  the  pelagic  hunters,  just  as  it  does  to-day.  At  least  I  feel  warranted  in  this  conclusion,  by  the  full  and  explicit 
details  which  Alexander  Mackenzie  gives  of  the  furs  that  he  saw  in  the  natives'  possession  when  he  came  overland 
from  Montreal  to  the  Pacific  ocean  in  1793.  He  describes  the  sea-otter  almost  exclusively.  He  speaks,  however, 
of  the  natives  having  seal's  flesh  for  sale;  that  it  was  eaten  raw,  "cut  into  chunks."  Most  likely  this  seal-meat  of 
Mackenzie's  notice  was  that  of  Phoca  vitulina,  which  animal  I  have  seen  myself,  nearly  100  miles  up  the  Fraser 
river  from  the  coast.  However,  it  may  have  been  that  of  the  fur-seal,  for  he  was  among  those  savages  who 
inhabited  the  islands  and  coast  of  Queen  Charlotte  sound,  where  these  animals  are  to-day  often  seen  sleeping  or 
sporting  in  the  broad  reach  of  that  open  roadstead. 

14.  ECONOMIC  VALUE  OF  THE  SKINS,  OIL,  AND  FLESH  OF  THE  FUE-SEAL. 

EEASON  WHY  FUR-SEAL  SKINS  ARE  ALL  SOLD  IN  LONDON. — On  account  of  the  fact  that  the  labor  in  this 
country,  especially  skilled  labor,  commands  so  much  more  per  diem  in  the  return  of  wages  than  it  does  in  London 
or  Belgium,  it  is  not  practicable  for  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  or  any  other  company  here,  to  attempt  to  dress 
and  put  upon  the  market  the  catch  of  Bering  sea,  which  is  in  fact  the  entire  catch  of  the  whole  world.  Our  people 
understand  the  theory  of  dressing  these  skins  perfectly ;  but  they  cannot  compete  with  the  cheaper  labor  of  the 
Old  World.  Therefore,  nine-tenths  nearly  of  the  fur-seal  skins  taken  every  year  are  annually  purchased  and 
dressed  in  London,  and  from  thence  distributed  all  over  the  civilized  world  where  furs  are  worn  and  prized. 

CAUSE  OF  VARYING  PRICES  OF  DRESSED  SEAL-SKINS. — The  great  variations  of  the  value  of  seal-skin  sacques, 
ranging  from  $75  up  to  $350,  and  even  $500,  is  not  often  due  to  the  variance  in  the  quality  orthe  fur  originally;  but 
it  is  due  to  the  quality  of  the  work  whereby  the  fur  was  treated  and  prepared  for  wear.  For  instance,  the  cheap 
sacques  are  so  defectively  dyed  that  a  little  moisture  causes  them  to  soil  the  collars  and  cuff's  of  their  owners,  and 
a  little  exposure  causes  them  speedily  to  fade  and  look  ragged.  A  properly  dyed  skin,  one  that  has  been 
conscientiously  and  laboriously  finished,  for  it  is  a  labor  requiring  great  patience  and  great  skill,  will  not  rub  off  or 

"An  Overland  Journey  Round  the  World,  1841-1842,  Sir  George  Simpson,  Goveruor-in-Chief  Hudson  Bay  Company's  territories; 
Philadlephia,  1847,  pp.  130-131. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  81 

"crock"  the  whitest  linen  when  moistened  ;  and  it  will  wear  the  weather,  as  I  have  myself  seen  it  on  the  form  of  a 
sea-captain's  wife,  for  six  and  seven  successive  seasons,  without  showing  the  least  bit  of  dimness  or  raggeduess.  I 
speak  of  dyeing  alone ;  I  might  say  the  earlier  steps  of  uuhairing  in  which  the  over-hair  is  deftly  combed  out  and  off 
from  the  skin,  heated  to  such  a  point  that  the  roots  of  ihe  fur  are  not  loosened,  while  those  to  the  coarser  hirsute 
growth  are.  If  this  is  not  done  with  perfect  uniformity,  the  fur  will  never  lay  smooth,  no  matter  how  skillfully 
dved;  it  will  always  have  a  rumpled,  ruffled  look.  Therefore,  the  hastily-dyed  sacques  are  cheap;  and  are 
enhanced  in  order  of  value  just  as  the  labor  of  dyeing  is  expended  upon  them. 

GRADATION  OF  THE  FUR  OF  CAXLORHINUS  UESINUS. — The  gradation  of  the  fur  of  Callorhinus  may,  perhaps, 
be  best  presented  in  the  following  manner : 

1  YEAR  OLD   $:  WELL  GROWN:  at  July  1  of  every  season: 

FUR  fully  developed  as  to  uniform  length  and  thickness  and  evenness  of  distribution ;  it  is  lighter  in  color,  and  softer  in  texture, 
than  hereafter,  during  the  life  of  ihe  animal;  average  weight  of  skin  as  removed  by  the  sealers  from  the  carcass,  4|  pounds. 

2  YEAR  OLD   $  :  WELL  GROWN:  at  June  1  of  every  season : 

FUR  fully  developed  as  to  even  length  and  thickness  and  uniformity  of  distribution ;  it  has  now  attained  the  darker  buff  and  fawn 
color,  sometimes  almost  brown,  which  it  retains  throughout  the  rest  of  the  life  of  the  animal ;  it  is  slightly  and  perceptibly  firmer  and 
stiffer  than  it  was  last  year,  not  being  at  all  "fluffy"  as  in  the  yearling  dress  now;  average  weight  of  skin,  as  taken  from  the  body, 
!>£  pounds. 

3  YEAR  OLD   6  :  WELL  GROWN  :  at  June  1  of  every  season : 

FUR  fully  developed,  as  to  even  length,  but  a  shade  longer  over  the  shoulders,  -where  the  incipient  "wig"  is  forming;  otherwise 
perfectly  uniform  in  thickness  and  even  distribution;  this  is  the  very  best  grade  of  pelt  which  the  seal  affords  during  its  life;  average 
weight  of  skin,  as  taken  from  the  body,  7  pounds. 

4  YEAR  OLD   5  :  WELL  GROWN  :  at  June  I  of  every  season : 

FUR  fully  developed  as  to  even  length,  except  a  decided  advance  in  length  and  perceptible  stiffness  over  the  shoulders,  in  the  "wig"; 
otherwise  perfectly  uniform  iu  thickness  and  even  distribution ;  this  grade  is  almost  as  safu  to  take,  and  as  good  as  is  the  three-year- 
old  ;  average  weight  of  skin,  as  removed,  12  pounds. 

5  YEAR  OLD   5  :  WKLL  GUOWX  :  at  May  to  June  l  of  every  season : 

FUR  fullv  developed,  but  much  longer  and  decidedly  coarser  in  the  "wig"  region;  otherwise,  uniform  in  thickness  and  distribution; 
the  coarseness  of  the  fur  over  the  shoulders  and  disproportionate  length  thereon  destroys  that  uniformity  necessary  for  rating  A  1  in 
the  market ;  in  fact  it  docs  not  pay  to  take  this  skin;  average  weight,  16  pounds. 

6  YEAR  OLD   $  :  WELL  GROWN  :  from  May  to  June  1  of  every  season : 

FUR  fully  developed,  still  longer  and  stiffer  in  the  "wig"  region,  -with  a  slightly  thinner  distribution  over  the  post-dorsal  region, 
and  shorter;  this  skin  is  never  taken — it  is  profitless;  average  weight,  25  pounds. 

7  YEAR  OLD  AND  UPWARD   5  :  from  May  to  June  1  of  every  season: 

FUR  fully  developed,  but  very  unevenly  distributed,  being  relatively  scant  and  short  over  the  posterior  dorsal  region,  -while  it  is 
twice  as  long  and  very  coarse  in  the  covering  to  the  shoulders  especially  and  the  neck  and  chest.  Skins  are  valueless  to  the  fur  trade; 
•weights,  45  to  GO  pounds. 

The  analysis,  as  above,  is  a  brief  epitome"  of  the  entire  subject;  only,  it  should  be  added  that  the  female  skins 
are  as  finely  furred  as  are  the  bsst  grades  of  the  males;  and  also,  that  age  does  not  cause  the  quality  of  their 
pelage  to  deteriorate,  which  it  does  to  so  marked  an  extent  in  the  males.  But,  taking  them  into  consideration  is 
entirely  out  of  the  question,  and  ought  to  be  so  forever. 

The  foetal  coat  of  the  pup  is  composed  of  coarse  black  hair  alone,  the  nnderwool  not  at  all  developed,  when 
this  is  shed  and  the  new  coat  put  on  in  September  and  October,  it  is  furred  and  haired  as  a  yearling,  which  I 
diagnose  above;  this  pelage- has,  however,  no  commercial  value. 

All  the  skins  taken  by  the  company  for  the  last  eight  years  have  been  prime  skin?,,  in  the  fair  sense  of  the 
term  ;  but,  all  the  seal-skin  sacques  made  therefrom  have  not  been  of  the  first  quality,  by  any  means. 

In  order  that  the  rules  and  regulations  and  the  law  governing  and  protecting  the  interests  of  the  government 
on  these  islands  may  be  fully  understood,  I  embody  them  in  the  appendix. 

OIL  OF  THE  FUR-SEAL. — I  have  spoken  of  the  blubber,  and  as  I  mentioned  it,  doubtless  the  thought  will 
occur,  what  becomes  of  the  oil  contained  therein  ;  is  it  all  allowed  to  waste  1  A  most  natural  query,  and  one  that 
I  made  instantly  after  my  first  arrival  on  the  islands.  I  remember  seeing  40  or  50  hogsheads  and  tierces  headed  up 
and  standing  near  the  foot  of  the  village  hill,  in  which  were  many  thousands  of  gallons  of  fur-seal  oil.  I  asked  the 
agent  of  the  company  when  he  was  going  to  ship  it;  he  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  said:  "As  soon  as  it  will  pay." 

I  made,  during  the  season,  careful  notes  as  to  the  amount  of  oil  represented  by  the  blubber  exposed  on  the 
100,000  young  male  seal  carcasses,  and  I  found  that  the  two  and  three  year  old  "holluschickie"  bodies  as  left  by  the 
skinner  would  not  clean  up  on  an  average  more  than  a  half  a  gallon  of  oil ;  while  the  four-year-old  males  would 
make  nearly  a  gallon.  It  should  be  remembered  that  quite  a  large  portion  of  the  seal's  fat  is  taken  off  with  the 
skin,  as  its  presence  thereon  is  necessary  to  that  proper  amalgamation  and  pieservation  by  the  salt  when  it  is  applied 
to  its  fresh  surface  iu  the  "keuches";  hence  the  amount  of  oil  represented  by  these  carcasses  every  year  is  not  much 
over  60,000  gallons. 

CONDITION  OF  THE  FUR-SEAL  OIL  MARKET. — When  among  the  seal-oil  dealers  in  New  York  city,  during  the 
month  of  May,  in  187(5,  I  took  these  notes  with  me  and  investigated  the  standing  and  the  demand  for  fur  seal 
oil  iu  their  market  and  the  markets  of  the  world ;  and  the  statements  of  these  oil  experts  and  dealers  were  all 
in  accord  as  to  the  striking  inferiority  of  fur-seal  oil,  compared  with  the  hair  seal  and  sea-elephant  oil,  which 
they  dealt  in  largely.  The  inferiority  of  the  fur  seal  oil  is  due  primarily  to  the  offensive  odor  of  the  blubber,  which 


82  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

I  have  spoken  of  heretofore.  This  singularly  disagreeable  smell  does  not  exist  in  the  blubber  of  the  hair-seal 
(Phocidw),  the  sea-elephant  or  sea-lion,  and  it  makes  the  process  of  refining  very  difficult.  They  said  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  properly  deodorize  it  and  leave  the  slightest  margin  of  profit  for  the  manufacturer  and  the  dealer. 
It  was  gummy  and  far  darker  in  color  than  any  other  seal-oil,'  hence  it  possessed  little  or  no  commercial  value. 
Then,  again,  when  the  subject  of  taking  oil  from  the  seal-islands  of  Alaska  is  considered,  the  following  obstacles, 
in  addition  to  the  first  great  objection  just  cited,  arise  at  once  to  financial  success :  the  time,  trouble,  and  danger 
iu  loading  a  vessel  with  oil  at  the  islands  where,  on  account  of  the  absence  of  a  harbor  and  the  frequent  succession 
of  violent  gales,  a  ship  is  compelled  to  anchor  from  a  mile  and  a  half  to  three  miles  from  the  coast,  on  which  the 
surf  is  always  breaking.  The  cost,- again,  of  casks  and  cooperage  will  amount  to  10  cents  per  gallon ;  the  cost  of 
the  natives'  work  in  securing  and  bringing  the  blubber  to  the  try-works,  10  cents  per  gallon;  the  cost  of  refining 
it,  10  cents;  and  the  cost  of  transportation  of  a  cargo  of,  say,  60,000  gallons  will  amount  to  nearly  20  cents  per 
gallon;  thus  making  a  gallon  of  fur-seal  oil  aggregate  in  cost  to  the  taker  50  cents,  which  entails  upon  him 
nothing  but  pecuniary  loss  when  the  cargo  goes  upon  the  market,  and  where  it  is  worth  only  from  40  to  50  cents 
retail,  with  a  dull  sale  at  that.* 

FRAGILE  CHARACTER  OF  FUR-SEAL,  BONES. — I  looked  at  the  fur-seal  bones,  and  at  first  sight  it  seemed  as 
though  a  bone-factory  might  be  established  there;  but  a  little  examination  of  the  singularly  light  and  porous  osseous 
structure  of  the  Callorhinus  quickly  stifled  that  enterprise.  The  skull  and  larger  bones  of  the  skeleton  are  more  like 
pasteboard  than  the  bone  which  is  so  common  to  our  minds.  When  dried  out,  the  entire  skeleton  of  a  three-year-old 
male  will  not  weigh  seven  pounds;  indeed,  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  would  be  much  less  than  that  if  thoroughly 
kiln-dried,  as  after  the  fashion  of  the  bone-mills.  Therefore,  although  100,000  of  these  skeletons  bleach  out  and 
are  trodden  down  annually,  upon  the  Pribylov  islands,  yet  they  have  not  the  standing  for  any  commercial  value 
whatsoever,  considering  their  distance  and  difficulty  of  access  from  those  impoverished  fields  where  they  might 
serve  our  farmers  as  fertilizing  elements.t 

DECAY  OF  SEAL  CARCASSES. — Another  singular  and  striking  characteristic  of  the  island  of  St.  Paul,  is  the 
fact  that  this  immense  slaughtering-field,  upon  which  75,000  to  90,000  fresh  carcasses  lie  every  season,  sloughing 
away  into  the  sand  beneath,  does  not  cause  any  sickness  among  the  people  who  live  right  over  them,  so  to  speak. 
The  cool,  raw  temperature,  and  strong  winds,  peculiar  to  the  place,  seem  to  prevent  any  unhealthy  effect  from  the 
fermentation  of  decay.  The  Elymus  and  other  grasses  once  more  take  heart  and  grow  with  magical  vigor  over 
the  unsightly  spot,  to  which  the  sealing-gaug  again  return,  repeating  their  bateau,  which  we  have  marked  before, 
upon  this  place,  three  years  ago.  In  that  way  this  strip  of  ground,  seen  on  my  map  between  the  village,  the 
east  landing,  and  the  lagoon,  contains  the  bones  and  the  oil-drippings  and  other  fragments  thereof,  of  more  than 
3,000,000  seals  slain  since  1786  thereon,  while  the  slaughter-fields  at  Novastoshnah  record  the  end  of  a  million  more. 

I  remember  well  the  unmitigated  sensations  of  disgust  that  possessed  me  when  1  first  lauded,  April  28,  1872,  on 
the  Pribylov  islands,  and  passed  up  from  the  beach,  at  Lukannon,  to  the  village,  over  the  killing-grounds;  though 
there  was  a  heavy  coat  of  snow  on  the  fields,  yet  each  and  every  one  of  75,000  decaying  carcasses  was  there,  and 
bare,  having  burned,  as  it  were,  their  way  out  to  the  open  air,  polluting  the  same  to  a  sad  degree.  I  was  laughed  at 
by  the  residents  who  noticed  my  facial  contortions,  and  assured  that  this  state  of  smell  was  nothing  to  what  I  should 
soon  experience  when  the  frost  and  snow  had  fairly  melted.  They  were  correct ;  the  od<  r  along  by  the  end  of  May 
was  terrific  punishment  to  my  olfactories,  and  continued  so  for  several  weeks  until  my  sense  of  smell  became  blunted 

"In  1873,  not  having  had  any  experience  and  not  even  knowing  the  views  ot'  the  oil  dealers  themselves,  I  left  the  seal-islands 
believing  that  if  the  special  tax  which  was  then  laid  upon  each  gallon  of  oil  as  it  might  be  rendered  was  removed,  that  it  would  pay  the 
manufacturer,  and  in  this  way  employ  the  natives,  many  days  of  the  year  otherwise  idle,  profitably.  The  company  assured  me  that  as  far 
as  its  conduct  in  the  matter  was  concerned,  it  would  be  perfectly  willing  to  employ  the  natives'in  rendering  fur-seal  oil,  and  give  them  all 
the  profit,  not  desiring  itself  to  coin  a  single  penny  out  of  the  whole  transaction;  possibly  this  could  be  done  if  the  special  tax  of  55  cents 
per  gallon  was  stricken  off.  The  matter  was  then  urged  upon  the  Treasury  Department,  by  myself,  in  October,  1873,  and  Ihe  tax  was 
repealed  by  the  department  soon  after.  But  it  seems  that  I  was  entirely  mistaken  as  to  the  quality  and  value  of  the  oil  itself.  I  made, 
to  satisfy  myself,  a  very  careful  investigation  of  the  subject  in  1876,  going  personally  to  the  leading  dealers  in  whale  and  seal  oil  of  New 
York  city,  and  they  were  unanimous  in  their  opposition  to  handling  fur-seal  oil,  some  of  them  saying  that  they  would  not  touch  it  at  any 
price.  I  felt  considerably  chagrined,  because  had  I  known  as  much  in  1873, 1  would  have  saved  myself  then,  and  my  friends  subsequently, 
a  good  deal  of  unnecessary  trouble  and  profitless  actjou. 

tThe  bones  of  Callorhinus,  though  apparently  strong,  are  surprisingly  light  and  porous;  indeed,  they  resemble  those  of  Jresmore  than 
those  commonly  credited  to  mammalia;  the  osseous  structure,  however,  of  Plioca  vitulina,  the  hair-seal  which  I  examined  there,  side  by  side 
with  that  of  the  fur-seal,  was  very  much  more  solid  and  weighed,  bone  for  bone  of  equal  age,  just  about  one-third  more,  the  skull  especially ; 
also  the  shoulder-blades  and  the  pelvic  series.  If  the  bones  of  the  animals  were  not  divested  of  their  cartilaginous  continuations  and 
connections,  then  the  aggregate  weight  of  the  fur-seal  is  equal  to  its  hairy-skinned  relative;  the  entire  skeleton  of  a  three-year-old  g 
Callorhimis,  completely  divested  by  sea-fleas  (Ampliipoda)  of  all  flesh  and  fat,  but  with  every  ligamentary  union  and  articulation  perfect 
(the  cartilaginous  toe-ends  all  present),  was  just  8  pounds,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  when  it  became  air-dried  and  bleached  it  did 
not  weigh  more  than  4  or  5.  The  bones  of  the  older  seals  are  relatively  very  much  heavier,  but  only  relatively ;  the  frailness  and  fragility 
is  constant  through  life,  though  the  skulls  of  the  old  males  do  thicken  up  on  their  crests  and  about  the  rami  of  their  jaws  very  perceptibly. 

Sea-lion  bones  are,  however,  normally  strong  and  heavy ;  the  bone  of  the  fur-seal  is  evidently  stout  enough,  but  it  is  singularly  light, 
while  the  walrus,  that  dull,  sluggish  brute,  has  a  massive  osteological  frame.  I  made  these  relative  examinations  more  especially  to 
ascertain  something  which  might  pass  for  a  correct  estimate  of  what  the  bony  waste  on  the  killing-grounds  of  1lus  Pribylov  island* 
amounted  to  annually,  with  a  view  of  its  possible  utilization.  The  spongy  bones  of  the  whole  100,000  annually  laid  out  would  not  render 
according  to  my  beet  judgment,  50  tons  of  dry  bone-meal— an  insignificant  result  and  unworthy  of  further  notice  on  these  islands. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  83 

and  callous  to  this  stench  by  long  familiarity.  Like  the  other  old  residents  I  then  became  quite  unconscious  of  the 
prevalence  of  this  rich  "funk  n,  and  ceased  to  notice  it. 

Those  who  land  here,  as  I  did,  for  the  first  time,  nervously  and  invariably  declare  that  such  an  atmosphere  must 
breed  a  plague  or  a  fever  of  some  kind  in  the  village,  and  hardly  credit  the  assurance  of  those  who  have  resided 
in  it  for  the  whole  period  of  their  lives,  that  such  a  thing  was  never  known  to  St.  Paul,  and  that  the  island  is 
remarkably  healthy.  It  is  entirely  true,  however,  and,  after  a  few  weeks'  contact,  or  a  couple  of  months'  experience, 
at  the  longest,  the  most  sensitive  nose  becomes  used  to  that  aroma,  wafted  as  it  is  hourly,  day  in  and  out,  from 
decaying  seal-flesh,  viscera,  and  blubber;  and,  also,  it  ceases  to  be  an  object  of  attention.  The  cool,  sunless  climate 
during  the  wanner  months  has  undoubtedly  much  to  do  with  checking  too  rapid  decomposition,  and  consequeut 
trouble  therefrom,  which  would  otherwise  arise  from  the  killing-grounds. 

The  freshly-skinned  carcasses  of  this  season  do  not  seem  to  rot  substantially  until  the  following  year ;  then 
they  rapidly  slough  away  into  the  sand  upon  which  they  rest ;  the  envelope  of  blubber  left  upon  each  body  seems 
to  act  as  an  air-tight  receiver,  holding  most  of  the  putrid  gases  that  evolved  from  the  decaying  viscera  until  their 
volatile  tension  causes  it  to  give  way ;  fortunately  the  line  of  least  resistance  to  that  merciful  retort  is  usually 
right  where  it  is  adjacent  to  the  soil,  so  both  putrescent  fluids  and  much  of  the  stench  within  is  deodorized  and 
absorbed  before  it  can  contaminate  the  atmosphere  to  auy  great  extent.  The  truth  of  my  observation  will  be 
promptly  verified,  if  the  skeptic  chooses  to  tear  open  any  one  of  the  thousands  of  gas-distended  carcasses  in  the  fall, 
that  were  skinned  in  the  killing-season  ;  if  he  does  so,  he  will  be  smitten  by  the  worst  smell  that  human  sense  can 
measure ;  and  should  he  chance  to  be  accompanied  by  a  native,  that  callous  individual,  even,  will  pinch  his  grimy 
nose  and  exclaim,  it  is  a  "keeshla  pahknoot"! 

At  the  close  of  the  third  season  after  the  skinning  of  the  seal's  body,  it  will  have  so  rotted  and  sloughed  down, 
as  to  be  marked  only  by  the  bones  and  a  few  of  the  tendinous  ligaments;  in  other  words,  it  requires  from  thirty  to 
thirty  six  months'  time  for  a  seal  carcass  to  rot  entirely  away,  so  nothing  but  whitened  bones  remain  above  ground. 
The  natives  govern  their  driving  of  the  seals  and  laying  out  of  the  fresh  bodies  according  to  this  fact;  for  they  can, 
and  do,  spread  this  year  a  whole  season's  killing  out  over  the  same  spot  of  the  field  previously  covered  with  such 
fresh  carcasses  three  summer's  ago;  by  alternating  wit h  the  seasons  thus,  the  natives  are  enabled  to  annually 
slaughter  all  of  the  "  holluschickie  "  on  a  relatively  small  area,  close  by  the  salt-houses,  and  the  village,  as  I  have 
indicated  on  the  map  of  St.  Paul. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  KILLING-GROUND  OF  ST.  PAUL. — The  killing-ground  of  St.  Paul  is  a  bottomless  sand  flat, 
only  a  few  feet  above  high  water,  and  which  unites  the  village  hill  and  the  reef  with  the  island  itself;  it  is  not 
a  stone's  throw  from  the  heart  of  the  settlement — in  fact,  it  is  right  in  town — not  even  suburban. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  KILLING  GROUND  AT  ST.  GEORGE. — On  St.  George  the  "  holluschickie  "  are  regularly 
driven  to  that  northeast  slope  of  the  village  hill  which  drops  down  gently  to  the  sea,  where  they  are  slaughtered, 
close  by  and  under  the  liouses,  as  at  St.  Paul ;  those  droves  which  are  brought  in  from  the  North  Eookery  to  the 
west,  and  also  Starry  Ateel,  are  frequently  driven  right  through  the  village  itself.  This  slaughtering  field  of  St. 
George  is  hard  tufa  and  rocky,  but  it  slopes  down  to  the  ocean  rapidly  enough  to  drain  itself  well ;  hence  the 
constant  rain  and  humid  fogs  of  summer  carry  off  that  which  would  soon  clog  and  deprive  the  natives  from  using 
the  ground  year  after  year  in  rotation,  as  they  do.  Several  seasons  have  occurred,  however,  when  this  natural 
cleansing  of  the  ground  above-mentioned  has  not  been  as  thorough  as  must  be  to  be  used  again  immediately;  then 
the  seals  were  skinned  back  of  the  village  hill,  and  in  the  ravine  to  the  west  on  the  same  slope  from  the  summit. 

This  village  site  of  St.  George  to-day,  and  the  killing-grounds  adjoining,  used  to  be,  during  early  Russian 
occupation,  in  Pribylov's  time,  a  large  sea-lion  rookery,  the  finest  one  known  to  either  island,  St.  Paul  or  St.  George. 
Natives  are  living  there  who  told  me  that  their  fathers  had  been  employed  in  shooting  and  driving  these  sea- 
lions  so  as  to  deliberately  break  up  the  breeding-ground,  and  thus  rid  the  island  of  what  they  considered  a 
superabundant  supply  of  the  Eumetopia*,  and  thereby  to  aid  and  encourage  the  fresh  and  increased  accession  of 
fur-seals  from  the  vast  majority  peculiar  to  St.  Paul,  which  could  not  take  place  while  the  sea-lions  held  the  laud.* 

*  The  St.  Paul  village  site  is  located  wholly  on  the  northern  slope  of  the  village  hill,  where  it  drops  from  its  greatest  elevation,  at  the 
flagstaff,  of  125  feet  gently  down  to  the  sandy  killing-flats  below  and  between  it  and  the  main  body  of  the  island.  The  houses  are  all 
placed  facing  the  north,  at  regular  intervals  along  the  terraced  streets,  which  run  S.  E.  and  N.  W.  There  are  74  or  80  native  houses,  10 
large  and  smaller  buildings  of  the  company,  the  treasury  agent's  residence  ;  the  church,  the  cemetery  crosses,  and  the  school  building  are 
all  standing  here  in  coats  of  pure  white  paint.  The  survey  of  the  town  site,  when  rebuilt,  was  made  by  Mr.  H.  W.  Mclntyre,  of  the 
Alaska  Commercial  Company,  who,  himself,  planned  and  devised  the  entire  reconstruction.  No  offal  or  decaying  refuse  of  any  kind  is 
allowed  to  stand  around  the  dwellings  or  lie  in  the  streets.  It  required  much  determined  effort  on  the  part  of  the  whites  to  effect  this 
sanitary  reform,  but  now  most  of  the  natives  take  equal  pride  in  keeping  their  surroundings  clean  and  unpolluted. 

The  site  of  the  St.  George  settlement  is  more  exposed  and  bleak  than  is  the  one  we  have  just  referred  to  on  St.  Paul.  It  is 
planted  directly  on  the  rounded  summit  of  one  of  the  first  low  hills  that  rise  from  the  sea  on  the  north  shore;  indeed,  it  is  the  only  hill 
that  does  slope  directly  and  gently  to  the  salt  water  on  the  island.  Here  are  24  to  30  native  cottages,  laid  with  their  doors  facing  the 
opposite  sides  of  a  short  street  between,  running  also  east  and  west,  as  at  St.  Paul.  There,  however,  each  house  looks  down  upon 
the  rear  of  its  neighbor,  in  front  and  below.  Here  the  houses  lace  each  other,  on  the  top  of  the  hill.  The  treasury  agent's  quarters,  the 
company's  six  or  seven  buildings,  the  school- house,  and  the  church  are  all  neatly  painted,  and  this  settlement,  from  its  prominent 
position,  shows  from  the  sea  to  a  much  better  advantage  than  does  the  larger  one  of  St.  "Paul.  The  same  municipal  sanitary  regulations 
are  enforced  here.  Those  who  may  visit  the  St.  George  and  St.  Paul  of  to-day  will  find  the  streets  dry  and  hard  as  floors.  They  have 
been  covered  with  a  thick  laver  of  volcanic  cinders  on  both  islands. 


84  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

F.  THE  SEA-LION  (EUMETOPIAS  STELLEKI). 

15.  LIFE-HISTOKY  OP  THE  SEA-L1OK 

NATURAL  INFERIORITY  TO  THE  FUR-SEAL. — This  animal,  also  a  characteristic  pinniped  of  the  Pribylov 
islands,  ranks  much  below  the  fur-seal  in  perfected  physical  organization  and  intelligence.  It  can,  as  well  as  its 
more  sagacious  and  valuable  relative,  the  Callorhinus,  be  seen,  perhaps,  to  better  advantage  on  these  islands  than 
elsewhere  in  the  whole  world  that  I  know  of.  The  marked  difference  between  the  sea-lion  and  the  fur-seal  up  here, 
is  striking ;  the  former  being  twice  the  size  of  its  cousin. 

The  size  and  strength  of  the  northern  sea-lion,  Eumetopias  Stelleri,  its  perfect  adaptation  to  its  physical 
surroundings,  unites  with  a  singular  climatic  elasticity  of  organization;  it  seems  to  be  equally  as  well  satisfied  with 
the  ice-floes  of  the  Kamtchatka  sea  to  the  northward,  or  the  polished  bowlders  and  the  hot  sands  of  the  coast 
of  California.*  It  is  an  animal,  as  it  appears  upon  its  accustomed  breeding-grounds  at  Northeast  point,  where  I 
saw  it,  that  commanded  my  admiration  by  its  imposing  presence  and  sonorous  voice,  rearing  itself  before  me  with 
head,  neck,  and  chest  upon  its  powerful  fore-arms,  over  six  feet  in  height;  while  its  heavy  bass  voice  drowned  the 
booming  of  the  surf  that  thundered  on  the  rocks  at  its  flanks. 

THE  PHYSICAL  PEESENCE  OF  THE  SEA-LION. — The  size  and  strength  of  the  adult  sea-lion  male  will  be  better 
appreciated,  when  I  say  that  it  has  an  average  length  often  and  eleven  feet,  osteologically,  with  an  enormous  girth 
of  eight  to  nine  feet  around  the  chest  and  shoulders;  but,  while  the  anterior  parts  of  the  frame  are  as  perfect  and 
powerful  on  land  as  in  sea,  those  posterior  are  ridiculously  impotent  when  the  huge  beast  leaves  its  favorite  element. 
Still,  when  hauled  up  beyond  the  reach  of  the  brawling  surf,  as  it  rears  itself,  shaking  the  spray  from  its  tawny 
chest  and  short  grizzly  mane,  it  has  that  leonine  appearance  and  bearing,  greatly  enhanced,  as  the  season  advances, 
by  the  rich  golden  rufous-color  of  its  coat,  the  savage  gleam  of  its  expression,  due  probably  to  the  sinister  muzzle 
and  cast  of  its  eye.  This  optical  organ  is  not  round  and  full,  soft  and  limpid,  like  the  fur-seal's,  but  it  is  an  eye  like 
that  of  a  bull-dog,  small,  and  clearly  showing,  under  its  heavy  lids,  the  white  or  sclerotic  coat,  with  a  light  brown 
iris.  Its  teeth  gleam  and  glisten  in  pearly  whiteness  against  the  dark  tong-ae  and  the  shadowy  recesses  of  its  wide, 
deep  mouth;  the  long,  sharp,  broad-based  canines,  when  bared  by  the  wrathful  snarling  of  its  gristled  lips,  glittered 
more  wickedly,  to  my  eye,  than  the  keenest  sword  ever  did  in  the  hand  of  mau.t 

With  these  teeth  alone,  backed  by  the  enormous  muscular  power  of  a  mighty  neck  and  broad  shoulders,  the 
sea-lion  confines  its  battles  to  its  kind,  spurred  by  terrible  energy  and  heedless  and  persistent  brute  courage.  No 
animals  that  I  have  ever  seen  in  combat  presented  a  more  savage  or  more  cruelly  fascinating  sight  than  did  a  brace 
of  old  sea-lion  bulls  which  met  under  my  eyes  near  the  Garden  cove  at  St.  George. 

SEA-LIONS  FIGHTING  AT  TOLSTOI. — Here  was  a  sea-lion  rookery,  the  outskirts  of  which  I  had  trodden  upon 
for  the  first  time.  These  old  males,  surrounded  by  their  meek,  polygamous  families,  were  impelled  toward  each 
other  by  those  latent  fires  of  hate  and  jealousy,  which  seemed  to  burst  forth  and  fairly  consume  the  angry  rivals. 
Opening  with  a  long,  round,  vocal  prelude,  they  gradually  came  together,  as  the  fur-seal  bulls  do,  with  averted 
heads,  as  though  the  sight  of  each  other  was  sickening — but  fight  they  must.  One  would  play  against  the  other 
for  an  unguarded  moment  in  which  to  assume  the  initiative,  until  it  had  struck  its  fangs  into  the  thick  skin  of  its 
opponents  jowl;  then,  clenching  its  jaws,  was  not  shaken  off  until  the  struggles  of  its  tortured  victim  literally 

*The  sea-lion  certainly  seems  to  have  a  more  elastic  constitution  than  is  possessed  by  the  fur-seal;  in  other  words,  the  former  can  live 
under  greater  natural  extremes  of  climate  than  can  the  latter.  A  careful  test  of  this  question  was  made  by  the  late  E.  B.  Woodward,  in 
the  aquaria  of  his  famous  gardens  at  San  Francisco.  He  told  me  at  the  Grand  Hotel,  in  1873,  that  he  should  not  attempt  to  keep  another 
fur-seal  alive  in  his  tanks;  that  every  one  of  the  half  dozen  live  specimens  which  ho  had  placed  therein  at  different  intervals  during  the 
last  three  yars  had  died — began  to  droop  and  waste  away  as  soon  as  they  were  installed  in  their  new  quarters;  but  he  seldom  lost  a 
sea-lion,  except  from  clear  or  natural  reasons.  Mr.  Woodward,  from  his  practical  experience,  was  positive  in  his  belief  lhat  no  living 
adult  fur-seal  could  ever  be  exhibited  in  New  York ;  while  he  thought  that  the  sea-lion,  both  Zalophm  and  Eumetopias,  could  be  carried  alive, 
and  in  good  condition,  all  over  this  country  from  New  Orleans  to  Montreal,  or  San  Francisco  to  Bangor.  He  said,  "  Our  black  sea-lion 
(Zalophtts)  is  tougher  than  the  larger  kind  (Eumetopias),  and  is  just  the  creature  for  showmen." 

t  The  teelh  of  the  fur-seal  are  not,  as  a  rule,  clean  and  white,  as  they  are  in  the  mouths  of  most  carnivora ;  they  are  badly  discolored 
by  black,  brown,  and  yellowish  coatings,  especially  so  with  regard  to  the  males ;  the  pup's  milk  teeth  are  complete  exponents  of  the  dental 
formula  of  adolescence,  but  are  small,  brittle,  mostly  black  and  brown  in  color;  with  their  shedding,  however,  the  permanent  teeth  come 
out  quite  clear,  and  glistening  white ;  still,  again,  in  a  year  or  two  they  rapidly  lose  their  purity  of  tint,  being  discolored  as  above  stated. 
The  sea-lion  pups,  also,  are  born  with  dingy,  dusky  milk  teeth,  but  I  found  that  when  their  permanent  set  was  grown  it  usually  retained, 
even  into  old  age,  its  primitive  whiteness.  This  difference  between  these  animals  is  quite  marked,  which,  together  with  the  opposite 
characters  of  their  blubber,  mentioned  hereafter,  constitute  a  very  curious  basis  of  differentiation. 

The  fnr-seal  pup,  when  it  spits  or  coughs  in  fright,  opens  its  mouth  wide,  and  the  small  black  and  brown  teeth  seem  sadly  out  of 
place,  set  in  the  bright,  rosy  gums  around  the  fresh  pink  tinge  of  the  tongue  and  under  the  red,  flushed  palate. 

The  canines  and  incisors  of  Callorhinus  and  Eumetopias  arc  well  rooted,  but  the  molars  are  not;  their  alveoli  are  only  partly  filled,  so 
that  when  the  fleshy  gums  are  removed  these  teeth  will  easily  rattle  out  of  their  sockets. 

In  looking  over  hundreds  and  thousands  of  the  skulls  of  Callorhinus  as  they  bleach  out  on  the  killing-grounds,  I  was  struck  by  their 
astonishing  lack  of  symmetry ;  they  varied  fully  as  much  in  their  extremes  as  the  skulls  of  many  different  genera  do.  The  number  of 
teeth  differ  also  ;  some  jaws  have  sets  of  but  five  molars,  others  six,  and  others  seven. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  85 

tore  them  out,  leaving  an  ugly,  gaping  wound — for  the  sharp  eye-teeth  cut  a  deeper  gutter  in  the  skin  and  flesh 
than  would  have  held  my  hand;  fired  into  almost  supernatural  rage,  the  injured  lion  retaliated,  quick  as  a  flash,  in 
kind;  the  hair  flew  from  both  of  them  into  the  air,  the  blood  streamed  down  in  frothy  torrents,  while  high  above 
the  boom  of  the  breaking  waves  and  shrill  deafening  screams  of  water-fowl  over  head,  rose  the  ferocious,  hoarse, 
and  desperate  roar  of  the  combatants. 

LAND  TRAVEL  OF  THE  SEA-LION.— Though  provided  with  flippers,  to  all  external  view,  as  the  fur-seal  is,  the 
sea-lion  cannot,  however,  make  use  of  them  at  all  in  the  same  free  manner.  The  fur-seal  may  be  driven  five  or  six 
miles  in  twenty-four  hours,  under  the  most  favorable  conditions  of  cool,  moist  weather;  the  "seevitchie",  however, 
can  only  go  two  miles,  the  conditions  of  weather  and  roadway  being  the  same.  The  sea-lion  balances  and  swings 
its  long  and  heavy  neck,  as  a  lever,  to  and  fro,  with  every  hitching  up  behind  of  its  posterior  limbs,  which  it  seldom 
raises  from  the  ground,  drawing  them  up  after  the  fore-feet  with  a  slide  over  the  grass  or  sand,  and  rocks,  as  the 
case  may  be;  ever  and  anon  pausing  to  take  a  sullen  and  savage  survey  of  the  field  and  the  natives,  who  are  driving 
them. 

The  sea-lion  is  polygamous,  but  it  does  not  maintain  any  regular  system  and  method  in  preparing  for  and 
attending  to  its  harem,  like  that  so  finely  illustrated  on  the  breeding-grounds  of  the  fur-seal ;  and  it  is  not  so 
numerous,  comparatively  speaking.  There  are  not,  according  to  my  best  judgment,  over  ten  or  twelve  thousand 
of  these  animals  altogether  on  the  breeding-grounds  of  the  Pribylov  islands ;  it  does  not  haul  more  than  a  few  rods 
anywhere,  or  under  any  circumstances,  back  from  the  sea.  It  cannot  be  visited  and  inspected  by  men  as  the  fur- 
seals  are,  for  it  is  so  shy  and  suspicious  that,  on  the  slightest  warning  of  an  approach,  a. stampede  into  the  water  is 
a  certain  result.* 

PECULIAR  COWARDICE  OF  THE  SEA-LION. — That  noteworthy,  intelligent  courage  of  the  fur-seal,  though  it  does 
not  possess  half  the  size  nor  one-quarter  of  the  muscular  strength  of  the  sea-lion,  is  entirely  wanting  in  the  hnge 
bulk  and  brain  of  the  Eumetopias.  A  boy,  with  a  rattle  or  a  pop-gun,  could  stampede  ten  thousand  sea-lion  bulls, 
in  the  height  of  the  breeding-season,  to  the  water;  and  keep  them  there  for  the  rest  of  the  season. t 

FIRST  ARRIVALS. — The  males  come  out  and  locate  over  the  narrow  belts  of  the  rookery-grounds  (sometimes  as 
at  St.  Paul  on  the  immediate  sea-margin  of  the  fur-seal  breeding  places),  two  or  three  weeks  in  advance  of  the 
females,  which  arrive  later,  i.  c.,  between  the  1st  to  the  Gth  of  June;  and  these  females  are  never  subjected  to 
that  intense,  jealous  supervision  so  characteristic  of  the  fur-seal  harem.  The  sea-lion  bulls,  however,  fight  savagely 
among  themselves,  and  turn  oft'  from  the  breeding-ground  all  the  younger  and  weaker  males. 

THE  FEMALE  SEA-LION. — The  cow  sea-lion  is  not  quite  half  the  size  of  the  adult  male;  she  will  measure  from 
eight  to  nine  feet  in  length  osteologically,  with  a  weight  of  four  or  five  hundred  pounds ;  she  has  the  same  general 
cast  of  countenance  and  build  of  the  bull ;  but,  as  she  does  not  sustain  any  fasting  period  of  over  a  week  or  ten 
days  consecutively,  she  never  comes  out  so  grossly  fat  as  the  male.  With  reference  to  the  weight  of  the  latter,  [ 
was  particularly  unfortunate  in  not  being  able  to  get  one  of  those  big  bulls  to  the  scales  before  it  had  been  bled; 
and  in  bleeding  I  know  that  a  flood  of  blood  poured  out  which  should  have  been  recorded  in  fhe  weight.  There- 
fore, I  can  only  estimate  this  aggregate  avoirdupois  of  one  of  the  finest-conditioned  adult  male  sea-lions  at  1,400 
to  1,500  pounds;  an  average  weight,  however,  might  safely  be  recorded  as  touching  1,200  pounds.f 

*  That  the  sea-lion  bull  should  be  so  cowardly  in  the  presence  of  man,  yet  so  ferocious  and  brave  toward  one  another  and  othc-r 
amphibious  animals,  struck  me  as  a  line  of  singular  contrast  with  the  nndaiuited  bearing  of  the  fur  seal  "seacatch",  which,  though  being 
not  half  the  size,  or  possessing  muscular  power  to  anything  like  its  development  in  the  "seevitchie",  nevertheless,  will  unflinchingly  face, 
on  its  station  at  the  rookery,  any  man,  to  the  death.  The  sea-lion  bulls,  certainly,  fight  as  savagely  and  as  desperately,  one  with  another, 
as  the  fur  seal  males  do.  There  is  no  question  about  that :  and  their  superior  strength  and  size  only  makes  the  result  more  effective  in 
the  exhibition  of  gaping  wounds  and  attendant  bloodshed.  I  have  repeatedly  seen  examples  of  these  old  warriors  of  the  sea  which  were 
literally  scarred,  from  their  muzzles  to  their  posteriors,  so  badly  and  so  uniformly  as  to  have  fairly  lost  all  the  color,  or  general  appearance 
even,  of  hair  anywhere  on  their  bodies. 

I  recall,  in  this  connection,  the  sight  of  an  aged  male  sea-lion,  which  had  evidently  been  defeated  by  a  younger  and  more  lusty  rival, 
perhaps ;  it  was  hauled  upon  a  lava  shelf  at  Southwest  point,  solitary  and  a'.one  ;  the  rock  around  it  being  literally  covered  with  pools 
of  pus,  which  was  oozing  out  and  trickling  down  from  a  score  of  festering  wounds ;  the  victim  stood  planted  squarely  on  its  torn  fore- 
flippers,  with  head  erect  and  thrown  back  upon  its  shoulders  ;  its  eyes  were  closed,  and  it  gently  swayed  its  sore  neck  and  shoulders  in  a 
sort  of  troubled,  painful  day-dreaming  or  dozing.  Like  the  fur-seal,  the  sea-lion  never  notices  its  wounds  to  nurse  and  lick  them,  as  dogs 
do,  or  other  carnivora ;  it  never  pays  the  slightest  attention  to  them,  no  matter  how  grievously  it  may  be  injured. 

t  This  marked  cowardice  of  the  sea-lion  was  well  noted  by  Steller,  who  speaks  of  it  thus :  "Though  the  males  have  a  terrible  aspect, 
yet  they  take  flight  on  the  first  appearance  of  man ;  and  if  surprised  in  their  sleep,  they  are  panic  struck,  sighing  deeply,  and  in  their 
attempt  to  escape  get  quite  confused,  tumble  down,  and  tremble  so  much  that  they  are  scarcely  able  to  move  their  limbs.  If,  however, 
reduced  to  extremity,  they  grow  desperate,  turn  on  their  enemy  with  great  fury  and  noise,  and  put  even  the  most  valiant  to  flight." — 
Abe.  Com.  Acad.  Sci.  PetropoL,  tome  ii,  1749. 

t  Often,  when  the  fur-seal  and  sea-lion  bulls  haul  up  in  the  beginning  of  the  season,  examples  among  them  which  are  inordinately 
fat  will  be  seen ;  their  extra  avoirdupois  renders  them  very  conspicuous,  even  among  large  gatherings  of  their  kind ;  they  seem  to  exhibit 
:i  >ensc  of  self-oppression  then,  quite  as  marked  as  is  that  subsequent  air  of  depression  worn  when,  later,  they  have  starved  out  this  load 
of  surplus  blubber,  and  are  shambling  back  to  the  sea,  for  recuperation  and  rest. 

I  thought  over  and  devised  many  plans  to  kill  and  weigh  entire  one  of  these  unusually  heavy  bulls;  but,  they  all  failed,  because  I  did 
not  have  the  time  to  spare  from  so  many  other  observations  pressing  and  necessary  to  be  made  at  that  season,  if  made  at  all  during  the  year. 
The  united  effort  of  five  or  six  men,  aided  by  the  mule  and  cart  at  St.  Paul,  would  solve  the  problem,  doubtless,  almost  any  day  they  set  about 


86  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  SEA-LION  ROOKERIES. — The  sea-lion  rookery  will  be  found  to  consist  of  about  ten  to 
fifteen  females  to  every  male.  The  females,  in  landing,  seem  to  be  influenced  by  no  preference  for  one  male  above 
another,  but  are  actuated  solely  to  come  ashore  at  a  suitable  place,  where,  soon  after  landing,  they  are  to  bring 
forth  their  young.  The  cow  seems  at  all  times  to  have  the  utmost  freedom  in  moving  from  place  to  place ;  and  also 
often  to  start  with  its  young — which  is  noteworthy,  inasmuch  as  I  never  saw  it  among  the  fur-seals — picking  the  pup 
up  by  the  nape  and  carrying  it  to  the  water  to  play  with  it  for  short  spells  in  the  surf  wash.  The  pup  sea-lions  are 
by  no  means  helpless  when  they  are  born;  when  they  first  come  into  the  world  their  eyes  are  promptly  opened  wide 
and  clear;  they  stand  up  quite  free  and  strong  on  their  odd  flipper- feet,  and  commence  at  once,  in  their  frequent 
intervals  of  wakefulness,  to  crawl  over  bowlders  and  the  sand,  to  paddle  in  the  surf,  and  to  roar  huskily  and  shrilly 
at  their  parents. 

GROWTH  OP  YOUNG  SEA-LIONS. — They  are  fed  upon  the  richest  of  rich  milk,  at  irregular  and  somewhat 
lengthy  periods;  regaled  in  this  manner,  the  young  sea-lion  grows  with  surprising  rapidity,  so  much  so  that  its 
weight,  of  9  or  12  pounds  at  birth,  is  increased  to  75  or  90,  in  less  than  four  mouths  thereafter.  By  this  time,  also,  it 
has  shed  its  natal  coat  and  teeth;  it  has  grown  a  strong  mustache,  and  has  become  a  facile  swimmer  and  expert 
fisherman,  though  at  first  it  was  one  of  the  most  clumsy,  yet  never  so  helpless  as  the  fur-seal.  The  liquid,  pearly- 
blue  eye  of  the  little  fellow  is  soon  changed  into  the  sinister  expression  of  adolescence,  when  it  has  rounded  its 
second  year.  It  appears  to  grow  up  unnoticed  by  its  grim-looking  parents,  though  the  maternal  attention  is  more 
evident,  but  t»till  scant,  indeed,  when  contrasted  with  the  love  evinced  by  cat  or  dog  for  its  offspring. 

VISITING  THE  TOLSTOI  ROOKERY. — At  the  east  end  of  St.  George  island,  just  to  the  southward  of  Tolstoi 
Mees,  is  one  of  the  finest  sea-lion  rookeries  on  the  islands,  or,  perhaps,  in  the  world.  It  lies  at  the  base  of  a  frowning 
wall  of  precipitous  cliffs,  the  mural  walls  sheer  aloft  400  and  500  feet  as  they  overhang  the  sea.  Here  beneath,  on 
a  rocky  stretch  of  beach  some  30  or  40  feet  wide,  at  high-water  mark,  stowed  thickly  side  by  side,  end  to  end,  and 
crosswise  for  a  distance  of  half  a  mile  up  and  down  the  coast,  are  four  or  five  thousand  sea-lions  of  all  sizes  and 
both  sexes;  and  here  they  will  be  found  every  summer,  secure  from  the  approach  of  enemies  by  land.  Inasmuch 
as  they  rest  there  under  the  cliffs,  they  cannot  be  practically  approached  and  driven,  as  their  kind  are  by  the  Aleuts, 
from  their  more  accessible  breeding-haunts  at  Northeast  point,  St.  Paul  island.* 

By  paying  attention  to  the  direction  of  the  wind,  the  observer  can  descend  at  intervals  from  the  heights  above, 
unheeded  and  unsuspected  by  them,  to  within  a  stone's  throw  of  their  tawny  forms;  where  you  may  notice  their 
thousand  and  one  unconstrained  and  peculiar  maneuvers,  which  would  be  interrupted  at  once  by  a  tumultuous  and 
universal  rush  for  the  water  should  you  make  yourself  known.  You  will  be  impressed,  first,  by  their  excessive 
restlessness;  they  are  ever  twisting  and  turning,  coiling  and  uncoiling  themselves  over  the  rocks;  now  stretched  out 
prone  in  slumber,  the  next  minute  up  and  moving.  The  roar  of  one  is  instantly  caught  up  by  another,  so  that  the 
aggregate  sound,  as  it  rises  and  falls  from  this  rookery,  reverberating  along  the  bluffs  at  irregular  though  close 
intervals,  can  only  be  compared,  in  my  mind,  to  the  hoarse  sound  of  a  tempest  as  it  howls  through  the  rigging  of  a 
ship,  or  sighs  throtfgh  the  branches  of  a  forest  growth. 

The  voice  of  the  northern  sea-lion,  Eumetopias,  is  confined  to  either  a  deep,  resonant  roar,  or  a  low,  muttering 
growl ;  not  only  to  the  males  alone  is  this  monotone  peculiar,  but  also  to  the  females  and  the  young.  It  does  not  have 
that  st/iking  flexibility  of  the  Callorhimts,  and  in  this  respect  their  vocal  organization  is  very  marked  and  different 
from  tnat  of  the  fur-seal.  I  might  say,  further,  that  the  pups  are  exceedingly  playful,  but,  unlike  the  noisy 
"  kotickie  ",  they  are  almost  silent ;  when  they  utter  a  sound  it  is  a  short,  sharp,  querulous  growling. 

it,  early  in  May.  Some  of  these  super-fleshy  fur-seal  males  look  as  though  they  were  from  600  to  700  pounds  weight,  while  I  have  seen 
several  sea-lion  bulls  that  actually  appeared  equal  to  turning  the  scales  at  1,500  pounds  avoirdupois.  Those  fur-seals  which  I  did  weigh  in 
July,  1873,  and  September,  1872,  were  not  at  all  extra  fleshy,  and  consequently  do  not  give  a  fair  return  for  these  examples  above  referred  to. 

*  It  will  be  noticed  that  I  have  made  no  especial  spacing  or  reservation  on  my  maps  for  the  sea-lions  at  Northeast  point,  on  St. 
Paul  island,  but  have  included  them  solidly  within  the  lines  of  the  breeding  fur-seals.  The  reason  why  I  omit  these  lines  of  exact 
limitation  is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  laid  in,  along  the  water's  edge  at  intervals,  so  closely  with  the  fur-seals,  and  in  such  apparent 
good  fellowship,  that  I  could  not  observe  any  sharp  demarkation  between  them ;  except  only  the  irregular,  confused  patches  of  their 
bright  golden  coats  in  contrast  with  the  dull  rusty  dress  of  Callorhinus.  The  £umetopias,  here,  where  it  was  breeding,  never  lay  far  back 
from  the  surf,  but  always  close  to  its  high-water  washings;  in  this  method,  I  should  judge,  about  12,000  to  15,000  of  them  occupy 
little  strips  of  Novastoshnah  and  Seevitchie  Kammin  ;  being  the  only  rookery  spots  on  the  Pribylov  islands  where  they  breed  in  close 
juxtaposition  with  the  fur-seals.  Then,  there  is  a  sea-lion  rookery  on  St.  George,  all  to  itself,  under  the  high  mural  walls  just  north  of 
the  Garden  cove  sand  beech,  where  I  estimate  another  4,000  to  5,000  of  these  animals  annually  haul  out  and  breed.  Very  likely  my 
allowance  of  12,000  to  15,000  sea-lions  on  St.  Paul  is  too  large,  and  10,000  is  a  better  figure  of  their  numerical  expression.  My  published 
estimates  of  25,000  on  the  two  islands,  in  1874,  I  feel  now  are  larger  than  the  facts  allow. 

As  might  be  inferred,  the  sea-lions  at  Novastoshnah  do  not  allow  the  fur-seals  to  disturb  them,  nor  do  they  in  turn  ever  appear  to 
annoy  or  drive  their  physically  weaker  brethren;  they  seem  to  wear  an  air  of  perfect  unconcern  for  each  other;  although  the  fur-seal 
bulls,  I  observed,  were  never  caught  lounging  over  the  narrow  littoral  margins  of  the  sea-lions'  breeding-grounds;  but  meekly  bowed  their 
heads  and  scuttled  across,  wholly  beneath  the  notice  of  the  huge  "  seevitchie". 

Why  the  sea-lion  should  be  relatively  so  scant  in  numbers  over  the  great  extent  of  the  large  geographical  area  wherein  it  is  found, 
is  perplexing  to  me,  for,  it  is  physically  as  active  and  much  more  powerful  than  the  fur-seal;  perhaps,  this  increased  bulk  of  body  deters 
it  from  feeding  as  successfully  as  its  more  lithesome  cousin  does.  I  should  estimate  that  the  full-grown  sea-lion  bull,  after  it  leaves  the 
islands  at  the  end  of  the  breeding-season,  until  it  reappears  for  the  next,  would  require  at  least  100  pounds  offish  per  diem,  while  the 
females  and  younger  males  would  crave  and  consume  from  40  to  CO  pounds  of  such  food  every  twenty-four  hours. 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  87 

THE  YOUNG  PROMPTLY  DESERTED. — You  will  notice  that  if  you  disturb  and  drive  off  any  portion  of  the 
rookery,  by  walking  up  in  plain  sight,  those  nearest  to  you  will  take  to  the  water,  instantly  swiin  out  to  a 
distance  of  fifty  yards  or  so,  leaving  their  pups  behind,  helplessly  sprawled  around  and  about  the  rocks  at  your 
feet.  Huddled  up  all  together  in  the  water  in  two  or  three  packs  or  squads,  the  startled  parents  hold  their  heads 
and  necks  high  out  of  the  sea,  peering  keenly  at  you,  and  all  roaring  in  an  incessant  concert,  making  an  orchestra 
to  which  those  deep  sonorous  tones  of  the  organ  in  that  great  Mormon  tabernacle,  at  Salt  Lake  City,  constitute  the 
fittest  and  most  adequate  resemblance. 

MOVEMENTS  WHEN  UNDISTURBED  ON  ROOKEKY. — You  will  witness  an  endless  tide  of  these  animals  traveling 
to  the  water,  and  a  steady  stream  of  their  kind  coming  out,  if  yon  but  keep  in  retirement  and  do  not  disturb  them. 
When  they  first  issue  from  the  surf  they  are  a  dark  chocolate-brown  and  black,  and  glisten ;  but,  as  their  coats  dry 
off,  the  color  becomes  an  iron-gray,  passing  into  a  bright  golden  rufous,  which  covers  the  entire  body  alike — shades 
of  darker  brown  on  the  pectoral  patches  and  sterno-pectoral  region.  After  getting  entirely  dry,  they  seem  to  grow 
exceedingly  uneasy,  and  act  as  though  oppressed  by  heat,  until  they  plunge  back  into  the  sea,  never  staying  out,  as 
the  fur-seal  does,  day  after  day  and  week  after  week.  The  females  and  the  young  males  frolic  in  and  out  of  the 
water,  over  rocks  awash,  incessantly  one  with  another,  just  as  puppies  play  upon  the  geeen  sward;  and,  when 
weary,  stretch  themselves  out  in  any  attitude  that  will  fit  the  character  of  the  rock,  or  the  lava-shingle  upon  which 
they  may  happen  to  be  resting;  the  movements  of  their  supple  spines,  and  ball-and-socket  joint  attachments, 
permit  of  the  most  extraordinary  contortions  of  the  trunk  and  limbs,  all  of  which,  no  matter  how  distressing  to 
your  eyes,  they  seem  actually  to  relish.  But,  the  old  battle-scarred  bulls  of  the  harem  stand  or  lie  at  their  positions 
day  and  night  without  leaving  them,  except  to  take  a  short  bath  when  the  coast  is  clear,  until  the  end  of  the  season. 

METHOD  OF  SWIMMING. — When  swimming,  the  sea-lion  only  lifts  its  head  above  the  surface  long  enough  to 
take  a  deep  breath,  and  then  drops  down  a  few  feet  below,  and  propels  itself,  for  about  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  like 
a  cigar-steamer,  at  the  rate  of  6  or  7  knots,  if  undisturbed;  but,  if  chased  or  alarmed,  it  seems  fairly  to  fly  under 
water,  and  can  easily  maintain  for  a  long  time  a  speed  of  14  or  15  miles  per  hour.  Like  the  fur-seal,  its  propulsion 
through  the  water  is  the  work  entirely  of  the  powerful  fore-flippers,  which  are  simultaneously  struck  out,  both 
together,  and  back  against  the  water,  feathering  forward  again  to  repeat,  while  the  hind-flippers  are  simply  used 
as  a  rudder  oar  in  deflecting  the  ever- varying  swift  and  abrupt  course  of  the  animal.  On  land  the  hind-flippers  are 
employed  just  as  a  dog  does  his  feet  in  scratching  fleas — the  Jong  peculiar  toe-nails  thereof  seeming  to  reach  and 
comb  the  spots  affected  by  vermin,  which  annoys  them,  as  it  does  the  fur-seal  to  a  great  extent,  and  causes  them 
both  to  enjoy  a  protracted  scratching. 

Again,  both  genera,  Callorhintis  and  Eumetopias,  are  happiest  when  the  snrf  is  strongest  and  wildest;  just  in 
proportion  to  the  fury  of  a  gale,  so  much  the  greater  joy  and  animation  of  these  animals.  They  deb'ght  in  riding  on 
the  crests  of  each  dissolving  breaker  up  to  the  moment  when  it  fairly  foams  over  the  iron-bound  rocks;  at  that 
instant  they  disappear  like  phantoms  beneath  the  creamy  surge  to  reappear  on  the  crown  of  the  next  mighty  billow. 

When  landing,  they  always  ride  on  the  surf,  so  to  speak,  to  the  objective  point,  and  it  is  marvelous  to  see  with 
what  remarkable  agility  they  will  worm  themselves  up  steep,  rocky  landings,  having  an  inclination  greater  than 
45°,  to  those  bluff  tops  above,  which  have  an  almost  perpendicular  drop  to  water. 

THE  VALUE  OF  THE  SEA-LION,  COMMERCIALLY:  SHEDDING. — As  the  sea-lion  is  without  fur,  its  skin  has  little 
or  no  commercial  value.*  The  hair  is  short,  an  inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  in  length,  being  longest  over  the  nape  of 
the  neck;  straight,  and  somewhat  coarse,  varying  in  color  as  the  season  comes  and  goes.  For  instance,  when  the 
Eitnictopias  makes  its  first  appearance  in  the  spring  and  dries  out  after  landing,  it  has  then  a  light  brownish 
rufous-tint,  with  darker  shades  back  and  under  the  fore  flippers  and  on  the  abdomen;  by  the  expiration  of  a  month 
or  six  weeks,  about  the  loth  of  June  generally,  this  coat  will  then  be  weathered  into  a  glossy  rufous,  or  ocher;  and 
this  is  soon  before  shedding,  which  sets  in  by  the  middle  of  August,  or  a  little  earlier.  After  the  new  coat  has 
fairly  grown,  and  just  before  the  animal  leaves  the  island  for  the  sea  in  November,  it  is  a  light  sepia  or  vandyke 
brown,  with  deeper  shades,  almost  black,  upon  the  abdomen.  The  cows  after  shedding  never  color  up  so  darkly  as 
the  bulls;  but  when  they  come  back  to  the  land  next  year  they  return  identically  the  same  in  tinting;  so  that  the 
eye,  in  glancing  over  a  sea-lion  rookery  during  June  and  July,  cannot  discern  any  dissimilarity  in  color,  at  all 
noteworthy,  existing  between  the  coats  of  the  bulls  and  the  cows ;  and  also  the  young  males  and  yearlings  appear 
in  the  same  golden-brown  and  ocher,  with  here  and  there  an  animal  which  is  noted  as  being  spotted  somewhat  like 
a  leopard,  the  yellow  rufous-ground  predominating,  with  patches  of  dark-brown,  blotched,  and  mottled  irregularly 

*  The  sea-lion  and  hair-seals  of  Bering  sea,  having  no  commercial  value  in  the  eyes  of  civilized  men,  have  not  been  subjects  of  interest 
enough  to  the  pioneers  of  those  waters  for  mention  in  particular ;  such  record,  for  instance,  as  that  given  of  the  walrus,  the  sea-otter,  and 
the  fur-seal.  Steller  was  the  first  to  draw  the  line  clearly  between  them  and  seals  in  general,  especially  defining  their  separation  from  the 
fur-seal ;  still,  his  description  is  far  from  being  definite  or  satisfactory  in  the  light  of  our  present  knowledge  of  the  animal. 

In  the  South  Pacific  and  Atlantic  the  sea-lion  has  been  curiously  confounded  by  many  of  the  earliest  writers  with  the  sea-elephant, 
Macrorliinu*  ltoninu»,  and  its  reference  is  inextricably  entangled  with  the  fur-seal  at  the  Kalklands.  Kerguelen's  Land,  and  the  Crozettes. 
The  proboscidean  seal,  however,  se^ms  to  be  the  only  pinniped  which  visits  the  Antarctic  continent ;  but  that  is  a  mere  inference  of  mine, 
because  so  little  is  known  of  those  ice-bound  coasts,  and  Wilkes,  who  gives  the  only  record  made  of  the  subject,  saw  no  other  animal 
there  save  this  one. 


88  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

interspersed  over  the  anterior  regions  down  to  those  posterior.  I  have  never  seen  any  of  the  old  bulls  or  cows 
thus  mottled,  and  this  is  likely  due  to  some  irregularity  of  shedding  in  the  younger  animals;  for  I  have  not  noticed 
it  early  in  the  season,  and  it  seems  to  fairly  fade  away  so  as  not  to  be  discerned  on  the  same  animal  at  the  close  of 
its  summer  solstice.  Many  of  the  old  bulls  have  a  grizzled  or  "salt  and  pepper"  look  during  the  shedding  period, 
which  is  from  the  10th  of  August  up  to  the  10th  or  20th  of  November.  The  pups,  when  born,  are  a  rich  dark-chestnut 
brown;  this  coat  they  shed  in  October,  and  take  one  much  lighter  in  its  stead;  still  darker,  however,  than  their 
parents. 

ARRIVAL  AT  AND  DEPARTURE  FROM  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. — The  time  of  arrival  at,  stay  on,  and 
departure  from,  the  islands,  is  about  the  same  as  that  which  I  have  recorded  as  characteristic  of  the  fur-seal; 
but,  if  the  winter  is  an  open,  mild  one,  some  of  the  sea-lions  will  frequently  be  seen  about  the  shores  during 
the  whole  year;  and  then  the  natives  occasionally  shoot  them,  long  after  the  fur-seals  have  entirely  disappeared. 

GREAT  RANGE  OP  SEA-LION:  IT  is  NOT  RESTRICTED  TO  THE  SEAL-ISLANDS — Again,  it  does  not  confine 
its  landing  to  the  Pribylov  islands  alone,  as  the  fur-seal  unquestionably  does,  with  reference  to  such  terrestrial 
location  in  our  own  country.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  a  frequent  visitor  to  almost  all  of  the  Aleutian  islands,  and 
ranges,  as  I  have  said  before,  over  the  mainland  coast  of  Alaska,  south  of  Bristol  bay,  and  about  the  Siberian  shores 
to  the  westward,  throughout  the  Kuriles  and  the  Japanese  northern  waters.* 

DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN  ZALOPHTJS  AND  EUMETOPIAS. — When  I  first  returned,  in  1873,  from  the  seal-islands, 
those  authors,  whose  conclusions  were  accepted  prior  to  my  studies  there,  had  agreed  in  declaring  that  the 
sea-lion,  so  common  off  the  port  of  San  Francisco,  was  the  same  animal  also  common  in  Alaska,  and  the  Piibylov 
islands  in  especial ;  but  my  drawings  from  life,  and  studies,  quickly  pointed  out  the  error,  for  it  was  seen  that 
the  creature  most  familiar  to  the  Californians  was  an  entirely  different  animal  from  my  subject  of  study  on  the 
seal  islands.  In  other  words,  while  scattered  examples  of  the  Eumetopias  were,  and  are,  unquestionably  about 
and  off  the  harbor  of  San  Francisco,  yet  nine-tenths  of  the  sea-lions  there  observed  wer»  a  different  animal — 
they  were  the  Zalophus  Californianus.  This  Zalophus  is  not  much  more  than  half  the  size  of  Eumetopiax,  relatively  ; 
it  has  the  large,  round,  soft  eye  of  the  fur-seal,  and  the  more  attenuated  Newfoundlaud-dog-like  muzzle;  and 
it  never  roars,  but  breaks  out  incessantly  with  a  honk,  honk,  honking  bark,  or  howl. 

No  example  of  Zalophus  has  e^er  been  observed  in  the  waters  of  Bering  sea,  nor  do  I  believe  that  it  goes 
northward  of  Cape  Flattery. 

EAELY  DISPOSITION  OF  SEA-LIONS  ON  ST.  GEORGE. — According  to  the  natives  of  St.  George,  some  fifty 
or  sixty  years  ago  the  Eumetopias  held  almost  exclusive  possession  of  the  island,  being  there  in  great  numbers, 
some  two  or  three  hundred  thousand  strong;  and  they  aver,  also,  that  the  fur-seals  then  were  barely  permitted 
to  land  by  these  animals,  and  in  no  great  number ;  therefore,  they  say,  that  they  were  directed  by  the  Russians 
(that  is,  their  ancestry)  to  hunt  and  worry  the  sea-lions  off  from  the  island,  the  result  being  that,  as  the  sea-lions 
left,  the  fur-seals  came,  so  that  to-day  they  occupy  nearly  the  same  ground  which  the  Eumetopias  alone  covered 
sixty  years  ago.  I  call  attention  to  this  statement  of  the  people  because  it  is,  or  seems  to  be,  corroborated  in 
the  notes  of  a  French  naturalist  and  traveler,  who,  in  his  description  of  the  island  of  St.  George,  which  he 
visited  fifty  years  ago,  makes  substantially  the  same  representation ;  t  but  directly  to  the  contrary,  and  showing 
how  difficult  it  is  to  trace  these  faint  records  of  the  facts,  I  give  the  account  as  rendered  by  Bishop  Veniaminov, 
which  I  translate  and  place  in  my  appendix.  The  reader  will  notice  that  the  Eussian  author  differs  entirely  from 
the  natives  and  the  Frenchman;  for,  by  his  tabulation,  almost  as  many  fur-seals  were  taken  on  St.  George  during 
the  first  years  of  occupation  as  were  taken  from  St.  Paul;  and  according  to  these  figures,  again  continued,  the 

*  The  winter  of  187i-'73,  which  I  passed  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  was  so  rigorous  that  the  shores  were  ice-bound  and  the  sea  covered 
with  floes  from  January  until  the  28th  of  May;  hence,  I  did  not  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing,  for  myself,  whether  the  sea-lion  remains 
about  its  breeding-grounds  there  throughout  that  period.  The  natives  say  that  a  few  of  them,  when  Ihe  sea  is  open,  are  always  to  be 
found,  at  any  day  during  the  winter  and  early  spring,  hauled  out  at  Northeast  point,  on  Otter  island,  and  around  St.  George.  They  an-, 
in  my  opinion,  correct;  and,  being  in  such  small  numbers,  the  "seevitchie"  undoubtedly  flud  enough  subsistence  in  local  Crustacea,  pisces, 
and  other  food.  The  natives,  also,  further  stated  that  none  of  the  sea-lions  which  we  observe  on  the  islands  during  the  breeding-season 
leave  the  waters  of  Bering  sea  from  the  date  of  their  birth  to  the  time  of  their  death.  I  am  also  inclined  to  agree  with  this  proposition, 
as  a  general  rule,  though  it  would  be  strange  if  Pribylov  sea-lions  did  not  occasionally  slip  into  the  North  Pacific,  through  and  below  the 
Aleutian  chain,  a  short  distance,  even  to  traveling  as  far  to  the  eastward  as  Cook's  inlet.  Eumetopias  Stelleri  is  well  known  to  breed  at 
many  places  between  Attoo  and  Kadiak  islands.  I  did  not  see  it  at  St.  Matthew,  however,  and  I  do  not  think  it  has  ever  bred  there, 
although  this  island  is  only  200  miles  away  to  the  northward  of  the  seal-islands — too  many  polar  bears.  Whalers  speak  of  having  shot 
it_in  the  ice-packs  in  a  much  higher  latitude,  nevertheless,  than  that  of  St.  Matthew.  I  can  find  no  record  of  its  breeding  anywhere  on 
the  islands  or  mainland  coast  of  Alaska  north  of  the  57th  parallel  or  sonth  of  the  53d  parallel  of  north  latitude.  It  is  common  on  the 
coast  of  Kamtchatka,  the  Kurile  islands,  and  the  Commander  group,  in  Russian  waters. 

There  are  vague  and  ill-digested  rumors  of  finding  Eumttopias  on  the  shores  of  Prince  of  Wales  and  Queen  Charlotte  islands  in 
bre«ding-rookeries ;  I  doubt  it.  If  it  were  so,  it  would  bo  authoritatively  known  by  this  time.  We  do  find  it  in  small  numbers  on  the 
Farralone  rocks,  off  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  of  San  Francisco,  where  it  breeds  in  company  with,  though  sexually  apart  from,  an 
overwhelming  majority  of  ZalopJius;  and  it  is  creditably  reported  as  breeding  again  to  the  southward,  on  the  Santa  Barbara,  Guadaloupe, 
and  other  islands  of  southern  and  Lower  California,  consorting  there,  as  on  the  Farralones,  with  an  infinitely  larger  number  of  the  lesser- 
bodied  Zalophus. 

t  Choris :   Voyage  Piltoresque  autour  du  Monde. 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  80 

catch  never  has  been  less  than  one-sixth  of  the  number  of  the  quota  on  the  larger  island.  Thus  the  two  authors 
seem  to  stand  each  other  off,  and  I  am  thrown  back  to  the  ground  itself  for  an  answer,  which  I  am  inclined  to 
believe  will  be  correct,  when  I  say  that  the  island  of  St.  George  never  was  resorted  to  in  any  great  numbers  by 
the  fur-seal,  and  that  the  sea-lion  was  the  dominant  animal  there  until  disturbed  and  driven  from  its  breeding- 
grounds  by  the  people,  who  naturally  sought  to  encourage  its  more  valuable  relative  by  so  doing,  and  made  room, 
in  this  way,  for  it. 

1C.  CAPTUEE  OF  THE  SEA-LION. 

THE  DRIVING  ON  ST.  PAUL. — The  great  intrinsic  value  to  the  domestic  service  of  the  Aleuts  rendered  by  the 
flesh,  fat,  and  sinews  of  this  animal,  together  with  its  skin,  arouses  the  natives  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George, 
who  annually  make  a  drive  of  "  seevitchie  ",  by  which  they  capture,  on  the  former  island,  two  or  three  hundred, 
as  the  case  may  be.  On  St.  George,  driving  is  so  much  more  difficult,  owing  to  the  character  of  the  land  itself, 
that  very  few  are  secured  there;  but,  at  St.  Paul  unexceptional  advantages  are  found  on  Northeast  point  for  the 
capture  of  these  shy  and  wary  brutes.  The  natives  of  St.  Paul,  therefore,  are  depended  upon  to  secure  the 
necessary  number  of  skins  required  by  both  islands  for  their  boats,  »nd  other  purpose*^  This  capture  of  the 
sea-lion  is  the  only  serious  business  which  the  people  have  on  St.  Paul;  it  is  a  labor  of  great  care,  industry,  and 
some  physical  risk  for  the  Aleutian  hunters.* 

By  reference  to  my  sketch-map  of  Northeast  point  rookery,  the  observer  will  notice  a  peculiar  neck  or  boot- 
shaped  point,  which  1  have  designated  as  Sea  Lion  neck.  This  area  is  a  spot  upon  which  a  large  number  of  sea- 
lions  are  always  to  be  found  during  the  season.  As  they  are  so  shy,  and  sure  to  take  to  water  upon  the  appearance 
or  presence  of  man  near  by,  the  natives  adopt  this  plan  : 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  DRIVE. — Along  by  the  middle  or  end  of  September,  as  late  sometimes  as  November, 
and  after  the  fur-seal  rookeries  have  broken  up  for  the  season,  fifteen  or  twenty  of  the  very  best  men  in  the  village 
are  selected,  by  one  of  their  chiefs,  for  a  sea-lion  rendezvous  at  Northeast  point ;  they  go  up  there  with  their 
provisions,  tea  and  sugar,  and  blankets,  and  make  themselves  at  home  in  the  barrabbora  and  houses,  which  I  have 
located  on  the  sketch-map  of  Novastosbnah,  prepared  to  stay,  if  necessary,  a  month,  or  until  they  shall  get  the  whole 
drove  together  of  two  or  three  hundred  sea-lions. 

METHODS  OF  DRIVING  SEA  LIOXS. — The  "  seevitchie",  as  the  natives  call  these  animals,  cannot  be  approached 
successfully  by  daylight,  so  these  hunters  lie  by,  in  this  house  of  Webster's,  until  a  favorable  night  comes  along — ? 
one  in  which  the  moon  is  partially  obscured  by  drifting  clouds,  and  the  wind  blows  over  them  from  the  rookery 
where  the  sea-lions  lie ;  such  an  opportunity  being  afforded,  they  step  down  to  the  beach  at  low  water,  and  proceed 
to  creep  on  all  fours  over  the  surf-beaten  sand  and  bowlders  up  to  the  dozing  herd,  and  between  it  and  the  high- 
water  mark  where  it  rests.  In  this  way,  a  small  body  of  natives,  crawling  along  in  Indian  file,  may  pass  unnoticed 
by  the  sea-lion  sentries,  which  doubtless,  in  the  uncertain  light  see,  but  confound,  the  forms  of  their  human  enemies 
with  those  of  seals.  •  When  the  creeping  Aleuts  have  all  reached  the  strip  of  beach  that  is  left  bare  by  ebb-tide, 
which  is  between  the  water  and  the  unsuspecting  animals,  at  a  given  signal  from  their  crawling  leader  they  all  at 
once  leap  to  their  feet,  shout,  yell,  brandishing  their  arms,  and  firing  off  pistols,  while  the  astonished  and  terrified 
lions  roar  and  flounder  in  all  directions. 

BEHAVIOR  OF  THE  SEA-LIONS  WHEN  SURPRISED. — If,  at  the  moment  of  surprise,  the  brutes  are  sleeping 
with  their  heads  pointed  toward  the  water,  they  rise  up  in  fright  and  charge  straight  on  in  that  way  directly  over 
the  men  themselves,  but  if  their  heads  have  been  resting  at  this  instant  pointed  landward,  up  they  rise  and  follow 
that  course  just  as  desperately,  and  nothing  will  turn  them  either  one  way  or  the  other;  those  sea-lions  which 
charged  for  the  water  are  lost,  of  course;!  but  the  natives  promptly  follow  up  the  land-turned  animal  with  a  rare 

*  A  curious,  though  doubtless  authentic,  story  was  told  me,  in  this  connection,  illustrative  of  the  strength  and  energy  of  the  sea-lion 
bull  when  at  bay.  Many  years  ago  (1847),  on  St.  Paul  island,  a  drive  of  September  sea-lions  was  brought  down  to  the  village  in  the  usual 
style  ;  but  when  the  natives  assembled  to  kill  them,  on  account  of  the  great  scarcity,  at  that  time,  of  powder  on  the  island,  it  was  voted 
best  to  lance  the  old  males  also,  as  well  as  the  females,  rather  than  shoot  them  in  the  customary  style.  The  people  had  hardly  set  to  work 
at  the  task  when  one  of  their  number,  a  sma  1,  elderly,  though  tough,  able-bodied  Aleut,  while  thrusting  his  lance  into  the  "life"  of  a  largo 
bull,  was  suddenly  seen  to  fall  on  his  back,  directly  under  the  huge  brute's  head;  instantly  the  powerful  jaws  of  the  "seevitfchie"  clos<"xl 
upou  the  waistband,  apparently,  of  the  native,  and,  lifting  the  yelling  man  aloft,  as  a  cat  would  a  kitten,  the  sea-lion  shook  and  threw 
him  high  into  the  air,  away  over  the  heads  of  his  associates,  who  ruslied  up  to  the  rescue,  and  quickly  destroyed  the  animal  by  a  dozen 
furious  spear-thrusts,  yet  death  did  not  loosen  its  clenched  jaws,  in  which  were  the  tattered  fragments  of  Ivan's  clothing. 

tThe  natives  appreciate  this  peculiarity  of  the  sea-lion  very  keenly,  for  good  and  sufficient  cause,  though  none  of  them  have  ever 
been  badly  injured  in  driving,  or  "  springing  the  alarm  ".  I  camped  with  them  for  six  successive  nights  in  September,  1872,  in  order  to 
witness  the  whole  procedure.  During  the  several  drives  made  while  I  was  with  them,  I  saw  but  one  exciting  incident ;  everything  went 
off  in  the  orthodox  manner,  as  described  in  the  text  above.  The  exceptional  incident  occurred  during  the  first  drive  of  the  first  night,  and 
rendered  the  natives  so  cautious  that  it  was  not  repeated.  When  the  alarm  was  sprung,  old  Lnka  Mandrigan  was  leading  the  van,  and 
at  that  moment,  down  upon  him,  despite  his  wildly  gesticulating  anus  and  vociferous  yelling,  came  a  squad  of  bull  "seevitchie".  The 
native  saw  instantly  that  they  were  pointed  for  the  water,  and,  in  his  sound  sense,  turned  to  run  from  under,  his  tarbosar  slipped  upon  a 
slimy  rock  awash,  he  fell  flat  as  a  flounder,  just  as  a  dozen  or  more  big  sea-lions  plunged  over  and  on  to  his  prostrate  form  in  the  shallow 
water.  In  less  time  than  this  can  be  written,  the  heavy  pinnipeds  had  disappeared,  while  the  bullet-like  head  of  old  Luka  was  quickly 
raised,  and  he  trotted  back  to  us  with  an  alternation  of  mirth  and  chagrin  iu  his  voice ;  he  was  not  hurt  in  the  least. 


90  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

i 

combination  of  horrible  noises  and  demoniacal  gesticulations,  until  the  first  frenzied  spurt  and  exertions  of  the 
terrified  creatures  so  completely  exhaust  them  that  they  fall  panting,  gasping,  prone  upon  the  earth,  extended  in 
spite  of  their  huge  bulk  and  powerful  muscles,  helpless,  and  at  the  mercy  of  their  cunning  captors ;  who,  however, 
instead  of  slaying  them  as  they  lie,  rudely  rouse  them  up  again,  and  urge  the  herd  along  to  the  house,  in  which  they 
have  been  keeping  this  watch  during  the  several  days  past. 

THE  "  CORRAL". — Here,  at  this  point,  is  a  curious  stage  in  the  proceedings.  The  natives  drive  up  to  that 
"  Webster's"  house  the  25  or  30  or  40  sea-lions,  as  the  case  may  be,  which  they  have  just  captured — they  seldom  get 
more  at  any  one  time — and  keep  them  in  a  corral  or  pen  right  by  the  barrabbora,  on  the  flattened  surface  of  a  sand- 
ridge,  in  the  following  comical  manner:  when  they  have  huddled  up  the  "pod",  tbey  thrust  stakes  down  around 
it  at  intervals  of  10  to  30  feet,  to  which  strips  of  cotton  cloth  are  fluttering  as  flags,  and  a  line  or  two  of  sinew-rope, 
or  thong  of  hide,  is  strung  from  pole  to  pole  around  the  group,  making  a  circular  cage,  as  it  were ;  within  this  flimsy 
circuit  the  stupid  sea-lions  are  securely  imprisoned ;  and  though  they  are  incessantly  watched  by  two  or  three  men, 
the  whole  period  of  caging  and  penning  which  I  observed,  extending  over  nine  or  ten  days  and  nights,  passed  with- 
out a  single  effort  being  made  by  the  ''seevitchie"  to  break  out  of  their  flimsy  bonds;  and  it  was  passed  by  these 
animals  not  in  stupid  quiescence,  but  in  alert  watchfulness;  writhing,  twisting,  turning  one  upon  and  over  the  other. 

By  this  method  of  procedure,  after  the  lapse  usually  of  two  or  three  weeks,  a  succession  of  favorable  nights 
will  have  occurred ;  and  the  natives  secure  their  full  quota,  which,  as  I  have  said  before,  is  expressed  by  a  herd 
of  two  or  three  hundred  of  these  animals. 

PREPARATION  AND  METHOD  OP  DRIVING  TO  THE  TILLAGE. — The  complement  filled,  the  natives  prepare 
to  drive  their  herd  back  to  the  village,  over  the  grassy  and  mossy  uplands  and  intervening  stretches  of  sand- 
dune  tracts,  fully  eleven  miles,  preferring  to  take  the  trouble  of  prodding  the  clumsy  brutes,  wayward  and 
obstinate  as  they  are,  rather  than  to  pack  their  heavy  hides  in  and  out  of  boats;  making,  in  this  way,  each  sea-lion 
carry  its  own  skin  and  blubber  down  to  the  doors  of  their  houses  in  the  village.  If  the  weather  is  normally  wet 
and  cold,  this  drive,  or  caravan  of  sea-lions,  can  be  driven  to  the  point  of  destination  in  five  or  six  days;  but,  should 
it  be  dry  and  warmer  than  usual,  three  weeks,  and  even  longer,  will  elapse  before  the  circuit  is  traversed. 

When  the  drive  is  started  the  natives  gather  around  the  herd  on  all  sides,  save  the  opening  which  they  leave 
pointing  to  the  direction  in  which  they  desire  the  animals  to  travel ;  and,  in  this  manner  they  escort  and  urge  the 
"seevitchie"  on  to  their  final  resting  and  slaughter  near  the  village.  The  young  lions  and  the  females  being 
much  lighter  than  the  males,  less  laden  with  fat  or  blubber,  take  the  lead;  for  they  travel  twice  and  thrice  as  easy 
and  as  fast  as  the  old  males;  which,  by  reason  of  their  immense  avoirdupois,  are  incapable  of  moving  ahead  more 
than  a  few  rods  at  a  time,  when  they  are  completely  checked  by  sheer  loss  of  breath,  though  the  vanguard  of  the 
females  allures  them  strongly  on ;  but,  when  an  old  sea-lion  feels  his  wind  coming  short,  he  is  sure  to  stop,  sullenly 
and  surlily  turning  upon  the  drivers,  not  to  move  again  until  his  lungs  are  clear. 

In  this  method  and  manner  of  conduction  the  natives  stretch  the  herd  out  in  extended  file,  or,  as  a  caravan, 
over  the  line  of  march,  and,  as  the  old  bulls  pause  to  savagely  survey  the  field  and  catch  their  breath,  showing  their 
wicked  teeth,  the  drivers  have  to  exercise  every  art  and  all  their  ingenuity  in  arousing  them  to  fresh  efforts.  This 
they  do  by  clapping  boards  and  bones  together,  firing  fusees,  and  waving  flags ;  and,  of  late,  and  best  of  all,  the 
blue  gingham  umbrella  repeatedly  opened  and  closed  in  the  face  of  an  old  bull  has  been  a  more  effective  starter  than 
all  the  other  known  artifices  or  savage  expedients  of  the  natives.* 

*  The  curious  behavior  of  the  sea-lions  in  the  Big  lake,  when  they  are  en  route  aiid  driven  from  Novastoshnah  to  the  village,  deserves 
mention.  After  the  drove  gets  over  the  sand-dunes  and  beach  between  Webster's  house  and  the  extreme  northeastern  head  of  the 
lake,  a  halt  is  called  and  the  drove  "penned"  on  the  bank  there;  then,  when  the  sea-lions  are  well  rested,  they  are  started  up,  and 
pell-mell  into  the  water;  two  natives,  in  a  bidarka,  keep  them  from  turning  out  from  shore  into  the  broad  bosom  of  Meesulkmahnee,  while 
another  bidarka  paddles  in  their  rear  and  follows  their  swift  passage  right  down  the  eastern  shore;  in  this  method  of  procedure,  the 
drive  carries  itself  nearly  two  miles  by  water  in  less  than  twenty  minutes  from  the  time  the  sea-lions  are  first  turned  in,  at  the  north  end, 
to  the  moment  when  they  are  driven  out  at  the  southeastern  elbow  of  the  Big  pond.  The  shallowness  of  the  water  here  accounts  probably 
for  the  strange  failure  of  the  sea-lions  to  regain  their  liberty,  and  so  retards  their  swimming  as  to  enable  the  bidarka,  with  two  men, 
to  keep  abreast  of  their  leaders  easily,  as  they  plunge  ahead  ;  and,  "as  one  goes,  so  go  all  sheep,"  it  is  not  necessary  to  pay  attention  to 
those  which  straggle  behind  in  the  wake ;  they  are  stirred  up  by  the  second  bidarka,  and  none  make  the  least  attempt  to  diverge  from  the 
track  which  the  swifter  mark  out  in  advance;  if  they  did,  they  could  escape  "scot-free"  in  any  one  of  the  twenty  minutes  of  this  aquatic 
passage. 

By  consulting  the  map  of  St.  Paul,  it  will  be  observed  that  in  a  direct  line  between  the  village  and  Northeast  point  there  are  quite 
a  number  of  small  lakes,  including  this  large  one  of  Meesulkmahnee ;  into  all  of  these  ponds  the  sea-lion  drove  is  successively  driven ; 
this  interposition  of  fresh  water  at  such  frequent  intervals  serves  to  shorten  the  time  of  the  journey  fully  ten  days  in  warmish  weather, 
and  at  least  four  or  five  under  the  best  of  climatic  conditions. 

This  track  between  Webster's  house  and  the  village  killing-grounds  is  strewn  with  the  bones  of  Eumetopias.  They  will  drop  in  theii 
tracks,  now  and  then,  even  when  carefully  driven,  from  cerebral  or  spinal  congestion  principally ;  and  when  they  are  hurried  the  mortality 
en  route  is  very  great.  The  natives  when  driving  them,  keep  them  going  day  and  night  alike,  but  give  them  frequent  resting  spells  after 
every  spurt  ahead.  The  old  bulls  flounder  along  for  a  hundred  yards  or  so,  then  sullenly  halt  to  regain  breath,  five  or  ten  minutes  being 
allowed  them,  then  they  are  stirred  up  again,  and  so  on,  hour  after  hour,  until  the  tedious  transit  is  completed. 

The  younger  sea-lions,  and  the  cows  which  are  in  the  drove,  carry  themselves  easily  far  ahead  of  the  bulls,  and  being  thus  always  in 
the  van,  serve  unconsciously  to  stimulate  and  coax  the  heavy  males  to  travel.  Otherwise,  I  do  not  believe  that  a  band  of  old  bulls, 
exclusively,  could  be  driven  down  over  this  long  road  successfully. 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  91 

ARRIVAL,  OF  THE  DRIVE  AT  THE  VILLAGE. — The  procession  of  sea-lions  managed  in  this  strange  manner 
day  and  night — for  the  natives  never  let  up— is  finally  brought  to  rest  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  village,  which 
has  pleasurably  anticipated,  for  days,  and  for  weeks,  its  arrival,  and  rejoices  in  its  appearance.  The  men  get  out 
their  old  rifles  and  large  sea-lion  lances,  and  sharpen  their  knives,  while  the  women  look  well  to  their  oil-pouches, 
and  repair  to  the  field  of  slaughter  with  meat-baskets  on  their  heads. 

MANNER  IN  WHICH  THE  KILLING  is  CONDUCTED. — No  attempt  is  made,  even  by  the  boldest  Aleut,  to  destroy 
an  old  bull  sea-lion  by  spearing  the  enraged  and  powerful  beast,  which,  now  familiar  with  man  and  conscious  as 
it  were  of  his  puny  strength,  would  seize  the  lance  between  its  jaws  and  shake  it  from  the  hands  of  the  stoutest 
one  in  a  moment.  Eecourse  is  had  to  the  rifle.  The  herd  is  started  up  the  sloping  flanks  of  the  Black  Bluff  hill- 
side ;  the  females  speedily  take  the  front,  while  the  old  males  hang  behind.  Then  the  marksmen,  walking  up  to 
within  a  few  paces  of  each  animal,  deliberately  draw  their  sights  upon  their  heads  and  shoot  them  just  between 
the  eye  and  the  ear.  The  old  males  thus  destroyed,  the  cows  and  females  are  in  turn  surrounded  by  the  natives, 
who,  dropping  their  rifles,  thrust  the  heavy  iron  lances  into  their  trembling  bodies  at  a  point  behind  the  fore-flip- 
pers, touching  the  heart  with  a  single  lunge.  It  is  an  unparalleled  spectacle,  dreadfully  cruel  and  bloody.* 

17.  ECONOMIC  USES  OF  THE  SEA-LION. 

HIGH  APPRECIATION  OF  THE  SEA-LION  BY  THE  ALEUTS. — Although  the  sea-lion  has  little  or  no  commercial 
value  for  us,  yet  to  the  service  of  the  natives  themselves,  who  live  all  along  the  Bering  sea  coast  of  Alaska, 
Kamtchatka,  and  the  Kuriles,  it  is  invaluable;  they  set  great  store  by  it.  It  supplies  them  with  its  hide, 
moustaches,  flesh,  fat,  sinews,  and  intestines,  which  they  make  np  into  as  many  necessary  garments,  dishes,  etc. 
They  have  abundant  reason  to  treasure  its  skin  highly,  for  it  is  the  covering  to  their  neat  bidarkies  and  bidarrahs, 
the  former  being  the  small  kyak  of  Bering  sea,  while  the  latter  is  a  boat  of  all  work,  exploration,  and  transportation. 
These  skins  are  unhaired  by  sweating  in  a  pile ;  then  they  are  deftly  sewed  and  carefully  stretched  over  a  light 
keel  and  frame  of  wood,  making  a  perfectly  water-tight  boat  that  will  stand,  uninjured,  the  softening  influence  of 
water  for  a  day  or  two  at  a  time,  if  properly  air-dried  and  oiled.  After  being  used  during  the  day,  these  skin  boats 
are  always  drawn  out  on  the  beach,  turned  bottom-side  up  and  air-dried  during  the  night ;  in  this  way  made  ready 
for  employment  again  on  the  morrow,  t 

VALUE  OF  THE  INTESTINES. — A  peculiar  value  is  attached  to  the  intestines  of  the  sea-lion,  which,  after 
skinning,  are  distended  with  air  and  allowed  to  dry  in  that  shape;  then  they  are  cut  into  ribbons  and  sewed  strongly 

*  This  surrounding  of  the  cows,  is,  perhaps,  the  strangest  procedure  on  the  islands.  To  fully  appreciate  the  subject,  the  reader  must 
first  call  to  his  mind's  eye  the  fact  that  these  female  sea-lions,  though  small  beside  the  males,  are  yet  large  animals;  seven  and  eight  feet 
long,  and  weighing,  each,  as  much  as  any  four  or  five  average  men.  But,  in  spite  of  their  strength  and  agility,  fifteen  or  twenty  Aleuts, 
with  a  rough,  iron-tipped  lance  in  their  hands,  will  surround  a  drove  of  50  or  150  of  them  by  forming  a  noisy,  gesticulating  circle, 
gradually  closing  up,  man  to  man,  until  the  sea-lions  are  literally  piled  in  a  writhing,  squirming,  struggling  mass,  one  above  the  other, 
three  or  four  deep,  heads,  flippers,  bellies,  backs  all  so  woven  and  interwoven  in  this  panic-stricken  heap  of  terrified  creatures,  that  it 
defies  adequate  description.  The  natives  spear  the  cows  on  top,  which,  as  they  sink  in  death,  are  mounted  in  turn  by  the  live  animals 
underneath;  these  meet  the  deadly  lance,  in  order,  and  so  on  until  the  whole  herd  is  quiet  and  stilled  in  the  fatal  ebbing  of  their  heart's 
blood. 

tWhen  slowly  sketching,  by  measurements,  the  outlines  of  a  fine  adult  hull  sea-lion  which  the  ball  from  Booterin's  rifle  had  just 
destroyed,  an  old  "starooka"  came  np  abruptly  ;  not  seeming  to  see  me,  she  deliberately  threw  down  a  large,  greasy,  skin  meat-bag,  and 
whipping  out  a  knife,  went  to  work  on  my  specimen.  Curiosity  prompted  me  to  keep  still  in  spite  of  the  first  sensations  of  annoyance,  so 
that  I  might  watch  her  choice  and  use  of  the  animal's  carcass.  She  first  removed  the  skin,  being  actively  aided  in  this  operation  by  an 
uncouth  boy ;  she  then  cut  off  the  palms  to  both  fore-flippers ;  the  boy  at  the  same  time  pulled  out  the  moustache  bristles;  she  then  cut  out 
its  gullet,  from  the  glottis  to  its  junction  with  the  stomach,  carefully  divested  it  of  all  fleshy  attachments,  and  fat;  she  then  cut  out  the 
stomach  itself,  and  turned  it  inside  out,  carelessly  scraping  the  gastric  walls  free  of  copious  biliary  secretions,  the  inevitable  bunch  of 
ascaris;  she  then  told  the  boy  to  take  hold  of  the  duodenum  end  of  the  small  intestine,  and  as  he  walked  away  with  it  she  rapidly 
cleared  it  of  its  attachments,  so  that  it  was  thus  uncoiled  to  its  full  length  of  at  least  60  feet ;  then  she  severed  it,  and  then  it  was  recoiled  by 
the  "melchiska",  and  laid  up  with  the  other  members  just  removed,  except  the  skin,  which  she  had  nothing  more  to  do  with.  She 
then  cut  out  the  liver  and  ate  several  large  pieces  of  that  workhouse  of  the  blood  before  dropping  it  into  the  meat-pouch.  She  then 
raked  np  several  haudfuls  of  the  "leaf-lard",  or  hard,  white  fat  that  is  found  in  moderate  quantity  around  the  viscera  of  all 
these  pinnipeds,  which  she  also  dumped  into  the  flesh-bag;  she  then  drew  her  knife  through  the  large  heart,  but  did  not  touch 
it  otherwise,  looking  at  it  intently,  however,  as  it  still  quivered  in  unison  with  the  -warm  flesh  of  the  whole  carcass.  She  and  the  boy 
then  poked  their  fingers  into  the  tumid  lobes  of  the  immense  lungs,  cutting  out  portions  of  them  only,  which  were  also  put  into  the  grimy 
pouch  aforesaid ;  then  she  secured  the  gall-bladder  and  slipped  it  into  a  small  yeast-powder  tin,  which  was  produced  by  the  urchin ;  then 
she  finished  her  economical  dissection  by  cutting  the  sinews  out  of  the  back  in  unbroken  bulk  from  the  cervical  vertebra  to  the  sacrum; 
all  these  were  stuffed  into  that  skin  bag,  which  she  threw  on  her  back  and  supported  it  by  a  band  over  her  head ;  she  then  trudged 
back  to  the  barrabkie  from  whence  she  sallied  a  short  hour  ago,  like  an  old  vulture  to  the  slaughter ;  she  made  the  following  disposition 
of  its  contents :  The  palms  were  used  to  sole  a  pair  of  tarbosars,  or  native  boots,  of  which,  the  uppers  and  knee  tops  were  made  of  the  gullets — 
one  sea-lion  gullet  to  each  boot,  top ;  the  stomach  was  carefully  blown  up,  and  left  to  dry  on  the  barrabkie  roof,  eventually  to  be  filled 
with  oil  rendered  from  sea-lion  or  fur-seal  blubber.  The  small  intestine  was  carefully  injected  with  water  and  cleansed,  then  distended 
with  air,  and  pegged  out  between  two  stakes,  60  feet  apart,  with  little  cross-slats  here  and  there  between  to  keep  it  clear  of  .the  ground. 
\\  hen  it  is  thoroughly  dry,  it  is  ripped  up  in  a  straight  line  with  its  length  and  pressed  out  into  a  broad  band  of  parchment  gut,  which  she 
cuts  up  and  uses  in  making  a  water-proof  "kamlaikie",  sewing  it  with  those  sinews  taken  from  the  back.  The  liver,  leaf-lard,  and  lobes 
of  the  lungs  were  eaten  without  further  cooking,  and  the  little  gall-bag  was  for  some  use  in  poulticing  a  scrofulous  sore.  The  moustache- 


92  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

together  into  that  most  characteristic  water-proof  garment  of  the  world,  known  as  the  "kamlaika";*  which,  while 
being  fully  as  water-proof  as  India  rubber,  has  far  greater  strength,  and  is  never  aflected  by  grease  and  oil.  It  is 
also  transparent  in  its  fitting  over  dark  clothes.  The  sea-lions'  throats  are  served  in  a  similar  manner,  and,  when 
cured,  are  made  into  boot  tops,  which  are  in  turn  soled  by  the  tough  skin  that  composes  the  palms  of  this  animal's 
fore- flippers. 

STOMACH-WALLS  USED  AS  OIL-POUCHES. — Around  the  natives'  houses,  on  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  constantly 
appear  curious  objects  which,  to  the  unaccustomed  eye,  resemble  overgrown  gourds  or  enormous  calabashes  with 
attenuated  necks;  an  examination  proves  them  to  be  the  dried,  distended  stomach-walls  of  the  sea-lion,  filled  with 
its  oil;  which,  unlike  the  offensive  blubber  of  the  fur-seal,  boils  out  clear  and  inodorous  from  its  fat.  The  flesh  of 
an  old  sea-lion,  while  not  very  palatable,  is  tasteless  and  dry;  but  the  meat  of  a  yearling  is  very  much  like  veal,  and 
when  properly  cooked  I  think  it  is  just  as  good;  but  the  superiority  of  the  sea-lion  meat  over  that  of  the  fur-seal 
is  decidedly  marked.  It  requires  some  skill,  in  the  cuisine,  ere  sausage  and  steaks  of  the  Callorhinus  are  accepted 
on  the  table ;  while  it  does  not,  however,  require  much  art,  experience,  or  patience  for  the  cook  to  serve  up  the  juicy 
ribs  of  a  young  sea-lion  so  that  the  most  fastidious  palate  will  fail  to  relish  it. 

CAKING  FOR  THE  FLESH. — The  carcass  of  the  sea-lion,  after  it  is  stripped  of  its  hide,  and  disemboweled,  is  hung 
up  in  cool  weather  by  its  hind-flippers,  over  a  rude  wooden  frame  or  "  labaas  ",  as  the  natives  call  it,  where,  together 
with  many  more  bodies  of  fur-seals  treated  in  the  same  manner,  it  serves  from  November  until  the  following  season 
of  May,  as  the  meat-house  of  the  Aleut  on  St.  Paul  and  St.  George.  Exposed  in  this  manner  to  the  open  weather, 
the  natives  keep  their  seal-meat  almost  any  length  of  time,  in  winter,  for  use ;  and,  like  our  old  duck  and  bird  hunters, 
they  say  they  prefer  to  have  the  meat  tainted  rather  than  fresh,  declaring  that  it  is  most  tender  and  toothsome 
when  decidedly  "  loud  ". 

CHINESE  DEMAND  FOR  WHISKERS. — The  tough,  elastic  moustache  bristles  of  the  sea-lion  are  objects  of  great 
commercial  activity  by  the  Chinese,  who  prize  them  highly  for  pickers  to  their  opium  pipes,  and  several  ceremonies 
peculiar  to  their  joss  houses.  These  lip  bristles  of  the  fur-seal  are  usually  too  small  and  too  elastic  for  this  service. 
The  natives,  however,  always  carefully  pluck  them  out  of  the  Eumetopias,  and  get  their  full  value  in  exchange. 

DIET  OF  THE  SEA-LION. — The  sea-lion  also,  as  in  the  case  of  the  fur-seal,  is  a  fish-eater,  pure  and  simple,  though 
he,  like  the  latter,  occasionally  varies  his  diet  by  consuming  a  limited  amount  of  juicy  sea-weed  fronds,  and  tender 
marine  crustaceans;  but  he  hunts  no  animal  whatever  for  food,  nor  does  he  ever  molest,  up  here,  the  sea-fowl  that 
incessantly  hovers  over  his  head,  or  sits  in  flocks  without  fear  on  the  surface  of  the  waters  around  him.  He,  like 
the  Callorhinus,  is,  without  question,  a  mighty  fisherman,  familiar  with  every  submarine  haunt  of  his  piscatorial 
prey;  and,  like  his  cousin,  rejects  the  heads  of  all  those  fish  which  have  hard  horny  mouths,  or  are  filled  with  teeth 
or  bony  plates.! 


G.  THE  WALRUS  OF  SEEING  SEA  (ODOB^NUS  OBESUS). 

18.  LIFE-HISTORY  OF  THE  WALRUS. 

VOLUMINOUS  WRITINGS  RELATIVE  TO  THE  WALRUS. — When  I  first  set  out  for  the  seal-islands,  from  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  in  1872,  I  fancied  that,  as  far  as  the  walrus  was  concerned,  I  should  have  nothing  to  learn, 
because  of  the  literature  on  that  subject  which  I  had  read,  from  the  Congressional  Library,  viz  : 

The  curious  histories  written  by  Olaus  Magnus,  in  1555 ;  by  Gesner,  in  1558;  by  Martens,  in  1675 ;  by  Pennant, 
in  1781-1792;  by  Buffon,in  1785;  and  by  Cuvier,  in  1816;  together  with  an  almost  innumerable  list  of  authors  who 
have  since  contributed  papers  on  the  walrus  and  its  character  to  nearly  all  the  learned  associations  of  the  world. 

bristles  were  a  venture  of  the  boy,  who  gathers  all  that  he  can,  then  sends  them  to  San  Francisco,  where  they  find  a  ready  sale  to  the  Chinese, 
who  pay  about  one  cent  apiece  for  them.  When  the  natives  cut  up  a  sea-lion  carcass,  or  one  of  a  fur-seal,  on  the  killing-grounds  for  ment, 
they  take  only  the  hams  and  the  loins.  Later  in  the  season  they  eat  the  entire  carcass,  which  they  hang  up  by  the  hiiid-flippers  on  a 
"laabas"  by  their  houses. 

"The  Aleutian  name  for  this  garment  is  unpronounceable  in  our  language,  and  equally  so  in  the  more  flexible  Russian;  hence  the 
Alaskan  "kamlaika,"  derived  from  the  Siberian  "kamliiia."  That  is  made  of  tanned  reindeer  skin,  unhaired,  and  smoked  by  larch 
bark  until  it  is  colored  a  saffron  yellow ;  and  is  worn  over  the  reindeer  skin  undershirt,  which  has  the  hair  next  to  the  owner's  skin,  and 
the  obverse  side  stained  red  by  a  decoction  of  alder  bark.  The  kamlaia  is  closed  behind  nnd  before,  and  a  hood,  fastened  to  the  back  of 
the  neck,  is  drawn  over  the  head,  when  leaving  shelter;  so  is  the  Aleutian  kauilaika;  only  the  one  of  Kolyma  is  used  to  keep  out  piercing 
dry  cold,  while  the  garment  of  the  Bering  sea  is  a  perfect  water  repellant. 

tMany  authorities,  who  are  quoted  in  regard  to  the  habits  of  the  hair-seals  and  southern  sea-lions,  speak  with  much  fine  detail 
'of  having  witnessed  the  capture  of  sea-fowl  by  Phocutce  and  Otariidce.  To  this  point  of  inquiry  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  I  gave  continued 
close  attention ;  because,  off  and  around  all  of  the  rookeries  large  flocks  of  auks,  arries,  gulls,  shags,  and  choochkies  were  swimming 
upon  the  water,  and  shifting  thereupon  incessantly,  day  and  night,  throughout  the  late  spring,  summer,  and  early  fall.  During  the  four 
seasons  of  my  observation  I  never  saw  the  slightest  motion  made  by  a  fur-seal  or  sea-lion,  a  hair-seal,  or  a  walrus  toward  intentionally 
disturbing  a  single  bird,  much  less  of  capturing  and  eating  it.  Had  these  seals  any  appetite  for  sea-fowl,  this  craving  could  have  been 
abundantly  satisfied  at  the  expense  of  absolutely  no  effort  on  their  part.  That  none  of  these  animals  have  any  taste  for  water-birds  I  am 
thoroughly  assured. 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA,  93 

With  this  imposing  list  of  authorities  in  my  mind,  I  thought  I  had  reason  to  believe  that  there  was  nothing  about 
this  pinniped  which  I  should  find  new,  or  even  interesting  to  science. 

THE  WALRUS  OF  BERING  SEA. — When,  therefore,  looking  for  the  first  time  upon  the  walrus  of  Bering  sea, 
judge  of  my  astonishment  as  I  beheld  the  animal  before  me.  It  was  a  new  species;  it  was  a  new  creature,  or  all 
that  had  been  written  by  five  hundred  author^  in  regard  to  the  appearance  and  behavior  of  its  Atlantic  cousin  was 
in  error.  The  natives  who  accompanied  me  were  hurriedly  summoned  to  my  side,  called  from  their  eager  task  of 
picking  up  birds'  eggs.  "Are  these  walrus  sick?"  said  I.  They  looked  at  me  in  astonishment;  "No,  they  are  not." 
"Do  they  always  look  like  that!"  " Serovnah,"*  was  the  answer. 

Such  was  my  introduction  to  Eosmarns  arcticm  (Pallas),  and  the  occasion  of  my  describing  it  m  1873,  for  the 
first  time,  as  the  walrus  of  Bering  sea — a  distinct  and  separate  animal,  specifically,  from  its  congener  of  the 
North  Atlantic.  Odobcenus  rosmarus  (Allen).t 

WALKUS  ON  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. — In  early  days,  when  the  Pribylov  islands  were  first  occupied  by  the 
Russians,  report  has  it  that  large  numbers  of  these  creatures  frequented  the  entire  coast  line  of  St.  Paul  island,  and 
many  were  found  around  St.  George ;  but,  being  relatively  more  timid  than  the  sea-lion  in  respect  to  the  presence 
of  man,  they  rapidly  disappeared  as  he  took  possession  of  the  land;  the  disappearance,  however,  was  not  total — 
a  few  of  them  every  year  were  and  can  now  be  observed  upon  that  little  rocky  islet,  lying  six  miles  to  the 
southeast  of  the  Northeast  point  of  St.  Paul  island,  owing  to  its  comparative  isolation;  since  the  natives  only  go 
there  once  a  year,  and  then  only  for  a  few  days  during  the  egging  seasou.f 

SELECTION  OF  LANDINGS  BY  WALRUS  HERDS. — The  walrus  rests  upon  the  low  rocky  tables  characteristic 
of  this  place,  without  being  disturbed ;  hence  the  locality  afforded  me  a  particularly  pleasant  and  advantageous 
opportunity  of  minutely  observing  these  animals.  My  observations,  perhaps,  would  not  have  passed  over  a  few 
moments  of  general  notice,  had  I  found  the  picture  presented  by  them  such  as  I  had  drawn  in  my  mind  from  the 
descriptions  of  the  army  of  writers  cited  above;  the  contrary,  however,  stamping  itself  so  suddenly  and  decidedly 
upon  my  eye,  set  me  to  work  with  pen  and  brush  in  noting  and  portraying  the  extraordinary  brutes,  as  they  lay 
grunting  and  bellowing,  unconscious  of  my  presence,  and  not  ten  feet  from  the  ledge  upon  which  I  sat.§ 

LIFE-STUDIES  OF  THE  HERD. — Sitting  as  I  did  to  the  leeward  of  them,  a  strong  wind  blowing  at  the  time  from 
seaward,  which,  ever  and  anon,  fairly  covered  many  of  them  with  the  foaming  surf-spray,  they  took  no  notice  of  me 
during  the  three  or  more  hours  of  uy  study.  I  was  first  surprised  at  observing  the  raw,  naked  appearance  of  the 

*  Just  the  same. 

t  Allen,  in  reviewing  the  history  of  this  species,  cites  the  hesitating  opinions  of  Pennant,  in  1792;  of  Shaw,  in  1800;  of  F.  Cnvier,  in  1825; 
of  Leidy,  in  1860,  all  of  v.-hom  suggest  the  specific  distinctness  of  the  Bering  sea  walrus,  but  give  their  ideas  clouded  by  expressed  hints  or 
mental  reservations.  He  shows,  however,  that  Illiger,  in  1811,  formally  recognized  three  varieties,  but  that  this  author  gives  nowhere  his 
reasons  for  so  doing;  he  named  them  Trichecus  rosmarus  for  the  North  Atlantic,  and  T.  oliexiis  and  T.  direryens  for  the  Bering  sea  region  and 
waters  north  of  the  straits  thereof.  Then  Allen  says,  page  21,  "I  have  met  with  nothing  further  touching  this  subject  prior  to  Mr. 
II.  W.  Elliott's  report  on  the  seal-islands  of  Alaska,  published  in  1873,  and  he  quotes  it  freely.  Professor  Allen  has,  however,  done  the 
osteological  part  of  the  work  so  well  in  his  History  of  North  American  Pinniped*,  that  now  I  deem  it  finished. 

While  Allen  agrees  with  me  finally  in  my  early  determination  of  the  Bering  sea  walrus  as  a  distinct  species  from  that  of  the  Atlantic, 
lie  seems  to  base  all  of  his  belief  upon  the  osteological  differentiation  between  them.  I  have  had  my  failh  in  that  one  line  of  evidence  as 
to  genera  and  species,  so  sadly  shaken  by  the  amazing  asymmetry  and  differences  in  the  skulls  and  skeletons  of  the  fur-seal  which  are 
bleaching  out  here  side  by  side,  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  them,  lhat  I  feel  better  satisfied  with  the  characteristic  external 
features  of  the  pinnipeds,  which  are  really  more  fixed  and  exact  among  the  hundreds  of  thousands  on  the  Pribylov  islands.  Perhaps  ten 
thousand  skulls  of  Odoiornu*  obeuvs  would  show  a  great  number  of  examples  which  conld  not,  alone  by  themselves,  be  separated  from  types 
of  0.  rosmarus.  From  my  inspection  of  the  wide  rajige  of  variation  presented  in  a  large  series  of  Callorhinus  and  Eumetopiax  skulls,  I  do 
not  have  any  hesitation  in  saying  so. 

tAs  to  the  number  of  walrus  on  the  Pribylov  islands  in  prehistoric  time,  ard  when  the  Russians  first  took  possession  of  the  game, 
1786-1787,  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  record  of  the  least  authentic  value.  Beyond  the  general  legend  of  the  natives  that  in  olden 
times  the  "  morsjee"  were  wont  to  haul  in  considerable  number  at  Novashtoshnah  and  over  the  entire  extent  of  the  north  and  south  shores 
of  St.  Paul,  while  herds  were  also  common  under  the  precipitous  sea-walls  of  St.  George.-  Gavrila  Sarietschev,  one  of  the  several 
imperial  agents  commissioned  at  intervals  to  examine  into  the  affairs  of  the  old  Russian  American  Fur  Company,  in  the  details  of  his  report 
made  in  December,  1805,  incidentally  states,  speaking  of  the  walrus,  that  while  they  had  abandoned  the  Pribylov  islands  then,  yet, 
formerly  they  were  there  in  such  numbers  that  28,000  pounds  of  their  teeth  (tusks)  were  obtained  in  a  single  year ;  as  the  average  weight 
of  well  assorted  walrus  ivory  is  about  8  pounds  to  the  head,  of  each  animal,  this  memorandum  of  the  agent  shows  that  between  3,£00  and 
4,000  walrus  were  taken  then.  From  the  quantity  of  old  bores  of  Botsmarii  which  are  constantly  covered  and  uncovered  by  the  caprice  of 
the  wind  at  Nahsayvernia  and_Novastoshnah,  I  should  judge  the  Russian  officer  wsis  correct. 

§  These  favored  basaltic  tables  are  also  commented  upon  in  similar  connection  by  an  old  writer  in  1775,  Shuldham,  who  calls  them 
"  echouries " ;  he  is  describing  the  Atlantic  walrus  as  it  appears  at  the  Magdalen  islands:  " The  echonries  are  formed  principally  by 
nature,  being  a  gradual  slope  of  soft  rock,  with  which  the  Magdalen  islands  abound,  about  80  to  100  yards  wide  at  the  water  side,  and 
spreading  so  as  to  contain,  near  the  summit,  a  very  considerable  number."  The  tables  at  Walrus  island  and  those  at  Southwest  point, 
are  very  much  less  in  area  than  those  described  by  Shuldham,  and  are  a  small  series  of  low,  saw-tooth  jetties  of  the  harder  basalt  washed 
jn  relief,  from  a  tufa  matrix  ;  there  is  no  room  to  the  landward  of  them  for  many  walruses  to  lie  upon.  The  Odoba-iius  does  not  like  to  haul 
up  on  loose  or  shingly  shores,  because  it  has  the  greatest  difficulty  in  getting  a  solid  hold  for  its  fore-flippers  with  which  to  pry  up  and  ahead 
its  huge,  clumsy  body.  When  it  hauls  on  a  sand  beaeh,  it  never  attempts  to  crawl  out  to  the  dry  region  back  of  the  surf,  but  lies  just 
awiish,  at  high  water.  In  this  fashion  they  used  to  rest  all  along  the  sand  reaches  of  St.  Paul  prior  to  the  Russian  advent  in  1783-1737; 
and  when  Shuldham  was  inditing  his  letters  on  the  habits  of  livsmarua,  Cdoba'iius  was  then  lying  out  in  full  force  and  great  physical 
peace  on  the  Pribylov  islands. 


94  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

hide,  a  skin  covered  with  a  multitude  of  pustular  looking  warts  and  large  boils  or  pimples,  without  hair  or  fur, 
save  scattered  and  almost  invisible  hairs ;  the  skin  wrinkled  in  deep,  flabby  seam-folds,  and  marked  by  dark-red 
venous  lines,  which  showed  out  in  strong  contrast  through  the  thicker  and  thinner  yellowish-brown  cuticle,  that  in 
turn  seemed  to  be  scaling  off  in  places  as  if  with  leprosy;  indeed,  a  fair  expression  of  this  walrus-hide  complexion, 
if  I  may  use  the  term,  can  be  understood  by  the  inspection  of  those  human  countenances  in  the  streets  and  on 
the-highways  of  our  cities  which  are  designated  as  the  faces  of  "  bloats  ".  The  forms  of  Rosmarus  struck  my  eye 
at  first  in  the  most  unpleasant  manner,  and  the  longer  I  looked  at  them  the  more  heightened  was  my  disgust ; 
for  they  resembled  distorted,  mortified,  shapeless  masses  of  flesh;  the  clusters  of  swollen  watery  pimples,  which 
were  of  yellow  parboiled  flesh-color,  and  principally  located  over  the  shoulders,  and  around  the  necks,  painfully 
suggested  unwholesomeness. 

On  examining  the  herd  individually,  and  looking  over  perhaps  150  specimens  directly  beneath  and  within  the 
purview  of  my  observation,  I  noticed  that  there  were  no  females  among  them;  they  were  all  males,  and  some  of 
the  younger  ones  had  considerable  hair,  or  enough  of  that  close,  short,  brown  coat  to  give  a  hairy  tone  to  their 
bodies — hence  I  believe  that  it  is  only  the  old,  wholly  matured  males  which  offered  to  my  eyes  their  bare  and 
loathsome  nakedness. 

I  observed,  as  they  swam  around,  and  before  they  landed,  that  they  were  clumsy  in  the  water,  not  being  able  to 
swim  at  all  like  the  Phocidce  and  the  Otarldce;  but  their  progress  in  the  sea  was  wonderfully  alert  when  brought  into 
comparison  with  that  terrestrial  action  of  theirs;  the  immense  bulk  and  weight  of  this  walrus  contrasted  with  the  size 
and  strength  of  its  limbs,  renders  it  simply  impotent  when  hauled  out  of  the  water,  and  on  the  low  rocky  beaches  or 
shelves  upon  which  it  rests.  Like  the.seal,  however,  it  swims  entirely  under  water  when  traveling,  but  it  does  not  rise, 
in  my  opinion,  so  frequently  to  take  breath ;  when  it  does,  it  blows  or  snorts  not  unlike  a  whale.  Often  I  have  noticed 
this  puffing  snort  of  these  animals,  since  the  date  of  these  observations  on  Walrus  islet,  when  standing  on  the  bluffs 
near  the  village  of  St.  Paul  and  looking  seaward ;  on  one  cool,  quiet  morning  in  May  especially,  I  followed  with  my  eye  a 
herd  of  walrus,  tracing  its  progress  some  distance  off  and  up  along  the  east  coast  of  the  island  very  easily  by  the 
tiny  jets  of  moisture  or  vapor  from  the  confined  breath,  which  the  animals  blew  off  as  they  rose  to  respire.* 

METHODS  OF  LANDING  :  CLUMSY  EFFORTS. — In  landing  and  climbing  over  the  low,  rocky  shores  at  Morserovia,! 
this  animal  is  fairly  as  clumsy  and  almost  as  indolent  as  the  sloth.  A  herd  crowds  up  from  the  water,  one  after 
the  other,  in  the  most  ungainly  manner,  accompanying  their  movements  with  low  grunts  and  bellowiugs ;  the 

*  Mariners,  while  coasting  in  the  Arctic,  have  often  been  put  on  timely  footing  by  the  walrus  fog-horn  snorting  and  blowing  when  a 
ship  dangerously  sails  silently  in  through  dense  fog  toward  land  or  ice-floes,  upon  which  these  animals  may  be  resting;  indeed,  these 
uncouth  monitors  to  this  indistinct  danger  rise  and  bob  under  and  around  a  vessel  like  so  many  gnomes  or  demons  of  fairy  romance ;  and 
the  sailors  may  well  bo  pardoned  for  much  of  the  strange  yarning  which  they  have  given  to  the  reading  world  respecting  the  sea-horse, 
during  the  last  three  centuries ;  but  when  we  find  Albert  Magnus,  and  Gesner  the  sage,  talking  in  the  following  extraordinary  manner  of 
the  capture  of  Sosmanis,  we  are  constrained  to  langh  heartily ;  especially  do  we  so,  because  a  more  shy,  timid  brute  than  the  walrus  of 
Bering  sea  never  existed  when  he  is  hunted  by  man,  unless  it  be  the  sea-otter. 

Says  Gesner  in  1558 :  "  Therefore  these  fish  called  Bosmarii  or  Morsii,  have  heads  fashioned  like  to  an  oxe,  and  a  hairy  skin,  and  hair 
growing  as  thick  as  straw  or  corn-reeds,  that  lie  loose  very  largely.  They  will  raise  themselves  with  their  teeth,  as  by  ladders,  to  the  very 
tops  of  rocks  that  they  may  feed  upon  the  dewie  grasse,  or  fresh  water,  and  role  themselves  in  it,  and  then  go  to  the  sea  again,  unless  in  the 
mean  time  they  fall  very  fast  asleep,  and  rest  upon  the  rocks,  for  then  the  fishermen  make  all  the  haste  they  can  and  begin  at  the  tail,  and 
part  the  skin  from  the  fat;  and  into  this  that  is  parted  they  put  most  strong  cords,  and  fasten  them  on  the  rugged  rocks  or  trees  that 
are  near;  and  then  they  throw  stones  at  his  head,  out  of  a  fling,  to  raise  him,  and  they  compel  him  to  descend  spoiled  of  the  greatest 
part  of  his  skin  which  is  fastened  to  the  ropes ;  ho  being  thereby  debilitated,  fearful  and  half  dead,  he  is  made  a  rich  prey,  especially  for 
his  teeth,  that  are  very  pretious  amongst  the  Scythians,  the  Muscovites,  Russians  and  Tartars  (as  ivory  amongst  the  Indians)  by  reason  of 
its  hardness,  whiteness  and  ponderousnesse". 

In  spite  of  the  many  remarkable  and  well  authenticated  stories  printed  as  to  the  ferocity  of  the  Atlantic  walrus  when  hunted,  it  can 
be  safely  said  that  no  boat  has  ever  been  assailed  by  the  Alaskan  species,  which  is  as  large  if  not  larger,  and  in  every  respect  quite  as  able- 
bodied;  the  Eskimo  capture  them  without  danger  or  difficulty — mere  child's  play  or  woman's  work — spearing  and  lancing.  By  spearing, 
a  line  of  walrus  hide  is  made  fast  to  the  plethoric  body  of  Bosnians,  and  when  it  has  expended  its  surplus  vitality  by  towing  the  natives  a 
few  miles  in  a  mad  frenzied  burst  of  swimming,  the  bidarrah  is  quietly  drawn  up  to  its  puffing  form,  close  enough  to  permit  the  coup  of 
an  ivory -headed  lance,  then  towed  to  the  beach  at  high  water;  when  the  ebb  is  well  out,  the  huge  carcass  is  skinned  by  its  dusky 
butchers,  who  cut  it  up  into  large  square  chunks  of  flesh  and  blubber,  which  are  deposited  in  the  little  "Dutch-oven"  caches  of  each 
family  that  are  waiting  for  its  reception. 

Dressing  the  walrus  hides  is  the  only  serious  hard  labor  which  the  Alaskan  Innuit  subjects  himself  to;  he  cannot  lay  it  entirely  upon 
the  women,  as  do  the  Sioux  when  they  spread  buffalo  bodies  all  over  the  plains ;  it  is  too  much  for  female  strength  alone,  and  so  the 
men  bear  a  hand  right  lustily  in  the  business.  It  takes  from  four  to  six  stout  natives,  when  a  green  walrus  hide  is  removed,  to  carry  it  to 
the  sweating  hole  where  it  is  speedily  unhaired;  then  stretched  alternately  upon  air-frames  and  pinned  over  the  earth,  it  is  gradually 
scraped  down  to  the  requisite  thinness  for  use  in  covering  the  bidarrah  skeletons,  etc. 

There  are  probably  six  or  seven  thousand  human  beings  in  Alaska  who  live  alone  by  virtue  of  the  existence  of  Iloxmarus  ;  and,  every 
year,  when  the  season  opens,  they  gather  together  by  settlements,  as  they  are  contiguous,  and  discuss  the  walrus  chances  for  the  coming 
year  as  earnestly  and  as  wisely  as  our  farmers  do,  for  instance,  regarding  the  prospects  for  corn  and  potatoes.  But  the  Eskimo  hunter  is 
a  sadly  improvident  mortal,  though  he  is  not  wasteful  of  morse  life ;  while  we  are  provident,  and  yet  wasteful  of  our  resources. 

If  the  north  pole  is  ever  reached  by  our  people,  they  will  do  so  only  when  they  can  eat  walrus  meat,  and  get  plenty  of  it ;  at  least  that 
is  my  belief;  and  knowing  now  what  the  diet  is,  I  think  the  journey  to  the  hyperborean  ultima  is  a  loug  one,  though  there  is  plenty  of 
meat,  and  many  men  who  want  to  try  it. 

t Morserovia,  the  Russian  name  for  Walrus  island;  the  natives  also  call  Otter  island  by  the  Russian  title  of  Bobrovia. 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  95 

first  one  up  from  the  sea  no  sooner  gets  composed  upon  the  rocks  for  sleep,  than  the  second  one  comes  along, 
prodding  and  poking  with  its  blunted  tusks,  demanding  room  also,  and  causes  the  first  to  change  its  position  to 
another  location  still  farther  off  and  up  from  the  water,  a  few  feet  beyond ;  then  the  second  is  in  turn  treated  in 
the  same  way  by  a  third,  and  so  on  until  hundreds  will  be  slowly  packed  together  on  the  shore,  as  thickly  as  they 
can  lie,  never  far  back  from  the  surf,  however,  pillowing  their  heads  upon  the  bodies  of  one  another,  and  not 
acting  at  all  quarrelsome  toward  each  other.  Occasionally,  in  their  lazy,  phlegmatic  adjusting  and  crowding,  the 
posteriors  of  some  old  bull  will  be  lifted  up,  and  remain  elevated  in  the  air,  while  the  passive  owner  sleeps  with  its 
head,  perhaps,  beneath  the  pudgy  form  of  its  neighbor. 

USE  OP  TUSKS. — A  great  deal  has  been  written  in  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  the  walrus  uses  his 
enormous  canines ;  many  authors  have  it  that  they  are  employed  by  Rosmarus  as  landing  hooks,  so  that  by  sticking 
them  into  the  icy  floes,  or  inserting  them  between  rocky  interstices  or  inequalities,  the  clumsy  brute  aids  his  hauling 
out  from  the  sea.  I  looked  here  at  Walrus  island  very  closely  for  such  manifestation  of  their  service  to  the 
members  of  the  herd,  which  was  continually  augmented  by  fresh  arrivals  from  the  surf  while  under  my  eye.  They 
did  not  in  a  single  instance  use  their  tusks  in  this  manner;  it  was  all  done  by  the  fore-flippers,  and  "boosting"  of 
exceptionally  heavy  surf  which  rolled  in  at  wide  intervals,  and  lor  which  marine  assistance  the  walrus  themselves 
seemed  to  patiently  wait.* 

With  all  this  apparent  indifference,  however,  they  have  established  their  reputation  for  vigilance  in  spite  of  it; 
and  they  resort  to  a  very  singular  method  of  keeping  guard,  if  I  may  so  term  it.  In  this  herd  of  three  or  four 
hundred  male  walrus  that  were  under  my  eyes,  though  nearly  all  were  sleeping,  yet  the  movement  of  one  would 
disturb  the  other,  which  would  raise  its  head  in  a  stupid  manner,  for  a  few  moments,  grunt  once  or  twice,  and  before 
Jying  down  to  sleep  again,  it  would  strike  the  slumbering  form  of  its  nearest  companion  with  its  tusks,  causing 
that  animal  to  rouse  up  in  turn  for  a  few  moments  also,  grunt,  and  pass  the  blow  on  to  the  next,  lying  down  in  the 
same  manner.  Thus  the  word  was  transferred,  as  it  were,  constantly  and  unceasingly  around,  always  keeping  some 
one  or  two  aroused,  which  consequently  were  more  alert  than  the  rest. 

HELPLESSNESS  ON  LAND. — In  moving  on  land  they  do  not  seem  to  have  any  physical  power  in  the  hind  limbs ; 
these  are  usually  dragged  and  twitched  up  behind,  or  feebly  flattened  out  at  right  angles  to  the  body ;  terrestrial 
progression  is  slowly  and  tediously  made  by  a  dragging  succession  of  short  steps  forward  on  the  fore-feet;  but,  if 
the  alarm  is  given,  it  is  astonishing  to  note  the  contrast  which  they  present  in  their  method  of  getting  back  to 
sea;  they  fairly  roll  and  hustle  themselves  over  and  into  the  waves. 

How  long  they  remain  out  from  the  water,  in  this  country,  I  am  unable  to  say ;  but,  stored  up  as  they  are  with 
such  an  enormous  supply  of  surplus  fat,  dull  and  sluggish  in  temperament,  I  should  think  that  they  could  sustain 
a  fasting  period  equal  to  that  of  the  Otariidee,  if  not  superior  to  them  in  endurance. 

These  adult  males  before  me  looked  very  much  larger  than  I  expected  to  find  the  walrus,  t  and  it  was  fortunate 

*  I  have  seen  no  description  of  this  Paciflc  walrus  which  is  as  good  as  is  the  first  notice  of  it  ever  made  to  English  readers,  by  Captain 
Cook,  in  his  Last  Voyage ;  it  is,  as  far  as  it  goes,  precisely  in  accordance  with  my  views  of  the  same  animal,  nearly  a  century  later,  viz, 
July,  1872.  He  said:  ''They  lie  in  herds  of  many  hundreds  upon  the  ice,  huddling  one  over  the  other  like  swine,  and  roar  or  bay  very  lond, 
go  that  in  the  night,  or  in  foggy  weather,  they  gave  us  notice  of  the  vicinity  of  the  ice  before  we  could  see  it.  We  never  found  the  whole 
herd  asleep ;  some  being  always  on  the  watch.  These,  on  the  approach  of  the  boat,  would  wake  those  next  to  them,  and  the  alarm  being 
thus  gradually  communicated,  the  whole  herd  would  be  awake  presently.  But  they  were  seldom  in  a  hurry  to  get  away  till  after  they  had 
once  been  fired  at,  when  they  would  tumble  one  over  the  other  into  the  sea  in  the  utmost  confusion,  and  if  we  did  not  at  the  first  discharge 
kill  those  we  fired  at,  we  generally  lost  them,  though  mortally  wounded.  They  did  not  appear  to  be  that  dangerous  animal  some  authors 
have  described,  not  even  when  attacked.  They  are  rather  more  so  to  appe.irance  than  in  reality.  Vast  numbers  of  them  would  follow, 
and  some  come  close  up  to  the  boats ;  but  the  flash  of  a  musket  in  the  pan,  or  even  the  bare  pointing  of  one  at  them,  wonld  send  them  down 
in  an  instant.  The  feniale  will  defend  the  young  one  to  the  very  last,  and  at  the  expense  of  her  own  life,  whether  in  the  water  or  upon 
the  ice.  Nor  will  the  young  one  quit  the  dam  though  she  be  dead ;  so  that,  if  you  kill  one  you  are  sure  of  the  other.  The  dam,  when  in 
the  water,  holds  the  young  one  between  her  fore-fins."  [Cook's  (1*78)  Voyages  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  etc.,  vol.  ii,  p.  458.  London,  1785.] 

I  do  not  wish  to  appear  in  the  light  of  desiring  to  detract  one  iota  from  that  credit  of  accurate  description  which  so  justly  belongs 
to  Cook ;  but  he  himself  did  not  indicate  that  he  thought  the  Pacific  walrus  a  distinct  species  from  its  Atlantic  congener ;  his  figure  of  the 
Bering  sea  ttosmarut  is  entirely  grotesque;  a  human  face  with  beard,  a  thin  neck  and  immensely  inflated  posteriors,  and  fore-flippers 
divided  up  into  distinct  fingers,  make  a  creature  as  totally  unlike  Odobcenus  obesus  as  need  be;  yet,  naturalists  have  gravely  spoken  of  it 
as  "excellent"!  Had  Captain  Cook  possessed  the  same  explicit  and  graphic  power  of  description  in  his  pencil  that  characterizes  his  pen, 
I  know  full  well  that  this  caricature  above  referred  to  [Cook's  Voyage  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  etc.,  1776-1780,  vol.  ii,  pi.  Hi]  would  never 
have  appeared. 

The  pinnipeds  are,  perhaps,  of  all  anima's,  the  most  difficult  subjects  that  the  artist  can  find  to  reproduce  from  life;  there  are  no 
angles  or  elbows  to  seize  hold  of— the  lines  of  body  and  limbs  are  all  rounded,  free  and  flowing ;  yet  the  very  fleshiest  examples  never 
have  that  bloated,  wind-distended  look  which  most  of  the  figures  published  give  them.  One  must  first  become  familiarized  with  the  restless, 
varying  attitudes  of  these  creatures,  by  extended  personal  contact  and  observation,  ere  he  can  satisfy  himself  with  the  result  of  his 
drawings,  no  matter  how  expert  he  may  be  in  rapid  and  artistic  delineation.  Life-studies,  by  artists,  of  the  young  of  the  Atlantic  walrus 
have  been  made  in  several  instances,  but  of  the  mature  animal,  there  is  nothing  extant  of  that  character. 

tThe  most  satisfactory  result  that  I  can  obtain  from  a  careful  study  of  what  is  on  record  as  to  the  length  of  the  adult  5  Atlantic 
walrus  is  a  mean  of  10  feet  7  inches;  while  my  observations  on  Walrus  island  give  the  Bering  sea  <5  adult  walrus  an  average  of  11  feet; 
the  only  two  examples  which  I  measured  were  both  over  this  figure,  viz,  11  feet  9  inches,  and  12  feet  7  inches,  from  tip  of  muzzle  to  the- 
skinny  nodule  or  excrescence,  scientifically  known  as  the  tail;  but  they  were  striking  exceptions  in  superior  size  to  all  the  others  in  the 
large  herd  of  old  males  before  my  eyes  at  the  time,  and  were  singled  out  for  shooting  on  that  score.  I  fully  realize  this,  because  in  July, 


9G  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

for  the  accuracy  and  good  sense  of  these  notes  now  published,  that  one  of  the  natives  kindly  volunteered  to  shoot 
any  of  the  bulls,  of  which  I  might  select,  after  I  should  have  finished  my  sketching  and  writing.  I  therefore,  when 
my  drawings  were  completed,  selected  the  largest  animal  in  the  group;  and,  promptly  at  my  signal,  a  rifle  ball 
crashed  into  the  skull  at  the  only  place  where  it  could  enter,  just  on  the  line  of  the  eye  and  the  ear,  midway 
between  them. 

GREAT  SIZE  OP  THE  WALRUS. — This  animal,  thus  slain,  certainly  was  the  largest  one  of  the  entire  herd,  and 
the  following  measurements  and  notes  can,  therefore,  be  relied  upon:  it  measured  12  feet  7  inches  from  its  bluff 
nostrils  to  the  tip  of  its  excessively  abbreviated  tail,  which  was  not  more  than  2£  or  3  inches  long;  it  had  the 
surprising  girth  of  14  fer t.  The  immense  mass  of  blubber  on  the  shoulders  and  around  the  neck  made  the  head 
look  strangely  small  in  proportion,  and  the  posteriors  decidedly  attenuated ;  indeed,  the  whole  weight  of  the 
animal  was  bound  up  in  its  girth  anteriorly ;  it  was  a  physical  impossibility  for  me  to  weigh  this  brute,  and  I 
therefore  can  do  nothing  but  make  a  guess,  having  this  fact  to  guide  me:  that  the  head  cut  directly  off  at  the 
junction  with  the  spine,  or  the  occipital  or  atlas  joint,  weighed  80  pounds;  that  the  skin,  which  I  carefully  removed 
with  the  aid  of  these  natives,  with  the  head,  weighed  570  pounds.  Deducting  the  head,  and  excluding  the  flippers, 
I  think  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  skin  itself  would  not  weigh  less  than  350  pounds,  and  the  animal  could  not  weigh 
much  less  than  a  ton— from  2,000  to  2,200  pounds. 

CHARACTERS  OF  HEAD. — The  head  has  a  decided  flattened  appearance,  for  the  nostrils,  eyes,  and  ear-spots 
seem  to  be  placed  nearly  on  top  of  the  cranium ;  the  nasal  apertures  are  literally  so,  opening  directly  over  the 
muzzle ;  they  are  oval,  and  closed  parallel  with  the  longitudinal  axis  of  the  skull,  and  when  dilated  are  about  an 
inch  in  their  greatest  diameter. 

The  tusks,  or  canines,  are  set  firmly  under  the  nostril-apertures  in  deep,  massive,  bony  pockets,  giving  that 
strange,  broad,  square-cut  front  of  the  muzzle,  so  characteristic  to  the  physiognomy. 

The  upper  lips  of  the  walrus  of  Bering  sea  are  exceedingly  thick  and  gristly,  and  the  bluff,  square  muzzle  is 
studded,  in  regular  rows  and  intervals,  with  a  hundred  or  so  short,  stubby,  gray-white  bristles,  varying  ia  length 
from  one  half  to  three  inches.  There  are  a  few  very  short  and  much  softer  bristles  set,  also,  on  the  fairly  hidden 
chin  of  the  lower  jaw,  which  closes  up  under  the  projecting  snout  and  muzzle,  and  is  nearly  concealed  by  the 
enormous  tushes,  when  laterally  viewed. 

PECULIARITIES  OP  THE  EYES. — The  eyes  are  small,  but  prominent;  placed  nearly  on  top  of  the  head,  and 
protruding  from  their  sockets,  bulge  like  those  of  the  lobster.  The  iris  and  pupil  of  this  eye  is  less  than  one- fourth 
of  the  exposed  surface ;  the  sclerotic  coat  swells  out  from  under  the  lids  when  they  are  opened,  ami  is  of  a  dirty, 
mottled,  coffee-yellow  and  brown,  with  an  occasional  admixture  of  white;  the  iris  itself  is  light  brown,  with  dark 
brown  rays  and  spots.  I  noticed  that  whenever  the  animal  roused  itself,  instead  of  turning  its  head,  it  rolled  its  eyes 
about,  seldom  moving  the  cranium  more  than  to  elevate  it.  The  eyes  seem  to  move,  rotating  in  every  direction  when 
the  creature  is  startled,  giving  the  face  of  this  monster  a  very  extraordinary  attraction,  especially  when  studied  by 
an  artist.  The  expression  is  just  indescribable.  The  range  of  sight  enjoyed  by  the  walrus  out  of  water,  I  can 
testify,  is  not  well  developed ;  for,  after  throwing  small  chips  of  rock  down  upon  the  walruses  near  me,  several  of 
them  not  being  ten  feet  distant,  and  causing  them  only  to  stupidly  stare  and  give  vent  to  low  grunts  of  astonishment, 
I  then  rose  gently  and  silently  to  my  feet,  standing  boldly  up  before  them ;  but  then,  even,  I  was  not  noticed,  though 
their  eyes  rolled  all  over  from  above  to  under  me.  Had  I,  however,  made  a  little  noise,  or  had  I  been  standing  as 
far  as  1,000  yards  away  from  them  to  the  windward,  they  would  have  taken  the  alarm  instantly  and  tumbled  off 
into  the  sea  like  so  many  hustled  wool-sacks ;  for  their  sense  of  smell  is  of  the  keen,  keenest. 

ACUTE  HEARING. — The  ears  of  the  walrus,  or  rather  the  auricles  to  the  ears,  are  on  the  same  lateral  line  at  the 
top  of  the  head  with  the  nostrils  and  eyes,  the  latter  being  just  midway  between.  The  pavilion,  or  auricle,  is  a  mere 
fleshy  wrinkle  or  fold,  not  at  all  raised  or  developed;  and,  from  what  I  could  see  of  the  meatus  externus,  it  was  very 
narrow  and  small;  still,  the  natives  assured  me  that  the  Otarildce  had  no  better  organs  of  hearing  than  "Morsjee". 

LOOSE  SETTING  OP  THE  TUSKS. — The  head  of  the  male  walrus,  to  which  I  have  alluded,  and  from  which  I 
afterward  removed  the  skin,  was  18  inches  long  between  the  nostrils  and  the  post-occipital  region;  and, although 
the  enormous  tusks  seemed  to  be  so  firmly  planted  in  their  osseous  sockets,  judge  of  my  astonishment  when  one  of 
the  younger  natives  flippantly  struck  a  tusk  with  a  wooden  club  quite  smartly,  and  then  easily  jerked  the  tooth 
forth.  I  had  frequently  observed  that  it  was  difficult  to  keep  the  teeth  from  rattling  out  of  their  alveoli  in  any  of 
the  best  skulls  I  had  gathered  of  the  fur-seals  and  sea-lions ;  especially  difficult  in  the  case  of  the  latter.  But 
again,  on  this  interesting  subject  of  dentition,  it  is  best  that  I  refer  to  Dr.  Allen.  Repetition  of  his  admirable 
diagnosis  is  unnecessary  here. 

UNUSUAL  THICKNESS  OP  THE  SKIN. — The  thickness  of  the  hide*  of  the  walrus  is,  after  all,  in  my  opinion,  its 

1874,  when  I  revisited  Walrus  island,  I  caused  a  younger  male,  and  one  tolerably  well  haired  over  with  a  very  dark  brown  and  short  coat, 
to  be  shot;  when  measured  it  gave  a  length  of  only  10  feet  9  inches,  and  would  not  weigh,  in  my  best  estimation,  niore  than  1,200  to  1,500 
pounds.  It  was,  however,  fully  matured.  Thus  the  "  greater  size"  which  I  recognized  in  1872,  means  an  increased  length  of  five  or  six 
inches  to  the  Alaska  form,  with  a  relative  greater  avoirdupois.  The  complete  and  uniform  uuhairing  of  the  old  Alaskan  male  Odobanus, 
is  another  very  characteristic  feature  in  different  expression  from  Atlantic  herds. 

"While  savage  man  has  utilized  the  tough  hide  of  Ro»marux  and  Obesus,  the  skin  was  also  used  by  the  Russians  themselves  to  cover 
the  packages  of  furs  sent  from  Sitka  to  Kiachta,  China;  the  skin  was  there  stripped  and  again  sewed  anew  over  the  chests  of  tea  that  svere 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  97 

most  anomalous  feature.  I  remember  well  how  surprised  I  was  when  I  followed  the  incision  of  the  broad-axe  used 
in  beheading  the  specimen  shot  for  my  benefit,  to  find  that  the  skin  over  the  shoulders  and  around  the  throat  and 
chest  was  three  inches  thick — a  puffy,  spongy  epidermis,  outward  hateful  to  the  sight,  and  inwardly  resting  upon 
the  slightly  acrid  fat  or  blubber  so  characteristic  of  this  animal.  Nowhere  is  this  hide,  upon  the  thinnest  point  of 
measurement,  less  than  half  an  inch  thick.  It  feeds  exclusively  upon  shellfish  (Lamellibranchiata),  or  clams 
principally,  and  also  upon  the  bulbous  roots  and  tender  stalks  of  certain  marine  plants  and  grasses  which  grow 
in  great  abundance  over  the  bottoms  of  broad,  shallow  lagoons  and  bays  of  the  main  Alaskan  coast.  I  took  from 
the  paunch  of  the  walrus  above  mentioned,  more  than,  a  bushel  of  crushed  clams  in  their  shells,  all  of  which  thaf 
animal  had  evidently  just  swallowed,  for  digestion  had  scarcely  commenced.  Many  of  those  clams  in  that  stomach, 
large  as  my  clenched  hands,  were  not  even  broken;  and  it  is  in  digging  this  shellfish  food  that  the  services 
rendered  by  the  enormous  tusks  become  apparent.* 

COWARDICE  OF  THE  WALRUS  OP  BERING  SEA. — It  may  not  accord  with  the  singular  tales  told,  on  the 
Atlantic  side,  about  the  uses  of  these  gleaming  ivory  teeth,  so  famous  and  conspicuous;  but  I  believe  that  the 
Alaskan  walrus  employs  them  solely  in  the  labor  of  digging  clams  and  rooting  bulbs  from  those  muddy  oozes  and 
sand-bars  in  the  estuary  waters  peculiar  to  his  geographical  distribution.  Certainly,  it  is  difficult  for  me  to 
reconcile  the  idea  of  such  uncouth,  timid  brutes,  as  were  those  spread  before  me  on  Walrus  islet,  with  any  of  the 
strange  chapters  written  as  to  the  ferocity  and  devilish  courage  of  the  Greenland  morse.  These  animals  were 
exceeding  cowardly ;  abjectly  so.  It  is  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  the  natives,  when  a  herd  of  walruses 
are  surprised,  can  get  a  second  shot  at  them ;  so  far  from  clustering  attacks  around  their  boats,  it  is  the  very 
reverse ;  and  the  hunter's  only  solicitude  is  which  way  to  travel  in  order  that  he  may  come  up  with  the  fleeing 
animals  as  they  rise  to  breathe.  Again,  I  visited  Walrus  islet  in  1874,  accompanied  by  Lieutenant  Maynard,  United 
States  navy,  and  the  captain  of  the  revenue-cutter  Reliance.  We  rowed  from  the  ship  directly  toward  the  islet,  to 
a  point  where  we  saw  the  accustomed  and  expected  sight  of  walrus  lying  thereon.  The  wind  was  fair  for  us  and  we 
came  up  almost  to  within  a  boat's  oar  distance  of  the  dozing,  phlegmatic  herd.  One  was  singled  out,  and 
Captain  Baker  shot  it — his  first  walrus  ;  the  whole  herd,  as  usual,  hustled  with  terrible  energy  into  the  water,  and 
all  around  our  boat,  for  we  had  not  landed,  and  they  did  not  rise  about  or  near  us  to  give  one  snort  of  defiance, 
or  to  give  us  the  faintest  suggestion  of  any  disposition  to  attack  us,  but  they  disappeared  unpleasantly  soon — too 
quickly. 

ABSENCE  OP  FEMALES  ON  WALRUS  ISLAND. — As  I  have  said  before,  there  are  no  females  on  this 
island,  and  I  can  therefore  say  nothing  about  them;  I  regret  it  exceedingly.  On  questioning  the  natives,  as 
we  returned,  they  told  me  that  the  walrus  of  Bering  sea  was  monogamous ;  and  that  the  difference  between  the 
sexes  in  size,  color,  and  shape  is  inconsiderable ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  until  the  males  are  old,  the  young  males 
and  the  females  of  all  ages  are  not  remarkably  distinct,  and  would  not  be  at  all  if  it  were  not  for  the  teeth;  they 
said  that  the  female  brings  forth  her  young,  a  single  calf,  in  June,  usually,  on  the  ice-floes  in  the  Arctic  ocean, 
above  Bering  straits,  between  point  Barrow  and  cape  Seartze  Kammiu;  that  this  calf  resembles  the  parent  in 
general  proportions  and  color  when  it  is  hardly  over  six  weeks  old,  but  that  the  tusks  (which  give  it  its  most 
distinguishing  expression)  are  not  visible  until  the  second  year  of  its  life;  that  the  walrus  mother  is  strongly 

attached  to  her  offspring,!  and  nurses  it  later  through  the  season  in  the  sea;  that  the  walrus  sleeps  profoundly  in 

• 

received  in  exchange  for  these  furs  thus  enveloped,  and  which  were  carried  hence  to  Moscow.  Here  the  soundest  portions  of  the  hide 
remaining  on  the  boxes  were  finally  cut  up  and  stamped  into  "  kopecks"  and  a  variety  of  small  change,  in  time,  to  revisit  its  native  seas  : 
used  as  a  circulating  medium,  for  value  received,  throughout  all  Alaska  where  the  Russians  held  power.  A  leather  currency  was  long 
known  to  that  country,  and  old  Philip  Volkov,  of  St.  Paul,  told  me  that  he  never  saw  silver  or  gold  coin  used  on  the  seal-islands  until  our 
people  brought  it  in  1868.  These  w.-vlrns  parchment  roubles  were  worth  much  less  than  their  face  value — sometimes  only  one-third.  The 
Russians  also  made  harness  out  of  walrus  leather.  As  long  as  the  weather  remained  cold  and  dry  the  wear  of  this  material  was  highly 
satisfactory,  but  woe  to  the  "kibitscha"  it'  caught  out  in  a  rain  storm!  The  walrus  harness  then  stretches  like  india-rubber,  and  the 
horses  fairly  leave  the  vehicle  far  behind,  sticking  in  the  road,  though  the  traces  are  unbroken. 

*  It  is,  and  always  will  be,  a  source  of  sincere  regret  to  me  and  my  friends,  that  I  did  not  bodily  preserve  this  huge  paunch  and  its 
contents.  It  would  have  filled  a  half  barrel  very  snugly,  and  then  its  mass  of  freshly  swallowed  clams  (Mya  truncata),  filmy  streaks  of 
macerated  kelp,  and  fragments  of  crustaceans,  could  have  been  carefully  examined  during  a  week  of  leisure  at  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
It  was.  however,  ripped  open  so  quickly  by  oue  of  the  Aleuts,  who  kicked  the  contents  out,  that  I  hardly  knew  what  had  been  done,  ere  the 
strong-smelling  subject  was  directly  under  my  nose.  The  natives  then  were  anxious  that  I  should  hurry  through  with  my  sketches, 
measurements,  etc.,  so  that  they  might  the  sooner  push  off  their  egg-laden  Imlarrah  and  cross  back  to  the  main  island,  before  the  fogs 
would  settle  over  our  homeward  track,  or  the  rapidly  rising  wind  shift  to  the  northward  and  imperil  our  passage.  Weighty  reasons,  these, 
which  so  fully  impressed  me,  that  this  unique  stomach  of  a  carnirora  was  overlooked  and  left  behind ;  hence,  with  the  exception  of  curiously 
turning  over  the  clams  (especially  those  uncrushed  specimens),  which  formed  the  great  bulk  of  its  contents,  I  have  no  memoranda  or  even 
distinct  recollection  of  the  other  materials  that  were  incorporated.  The  olivaceous  green  color  of  its  soft,  pasty  e'xcremeut  must  be  derived 
from  eating  cltlorospermce  aud  divers  branches  of  algoid  growth. 

t  That  the  sea-lion  and  the  fur-seal  should  be  so  apathetic  when  danger  to  their  young  arises,  and  that  the  clumsy,  timid  walrus 

fights  for  their  protection  to  the  death,  under  the  same  circumstances,  is  somewhat  strange.     According  to  all  reports  which  I  can 

gather  from  reputable  authority,  notably  Captain  Cook's  brief,  yet  explieit,  account,  the  walrus  never  deserts  its  young  in  that  manner, 

hitherto  described,  so  characteristic  of  tha  Otariidee  of  Bering  sea;  this  odd  contrast  in  behavior  is  worthy  of  further  attention,  as  far  as 

7 


98  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

* 

the  water,  floating  almost  vertically,  with  barely  more  than  the  nostrils  above  water,  and  can  be  easily  approached 
if  care  is  taken  as  to  the  wind,  so  as  to  spear  it  or  shove  a  lance  into  its  bowels;  that  the  bulls  do  not  tight  as 
savagely  as  the  fur-seal  or  the  sea-lion;  that  the  blunted  tusks  of  these  combatants  seldom  do  more  than  bruise 
their  thick  hides ;  that  they  can  remain  under  water  nearly  an  hour,  or  about  twice  as  long  as  the  seals ;  and 
that  they  sink  like  so  many  stones,  immediately  after  being  shot  at  sea.* 

FIRST  RECORD  OF  THE  occUEEENCE  OP  FEMALES. — The  reason  why  this  band  of  males,  and  many  of  them 
old  ones,  should  be  here  to  the  exclusion  of  females  throughout  the  year,  is  not  plain.  The  natives  assured  me  that 
walrus  females,  or  their  young,  never  have  been  seen  around  the  shores  of  these  islands;  but  I  have  trustworthy 
advices  from  the  village  of  St.  Paul,  at  the  date  of  this  publication,  declaring  the  fact  of  the  capture  of  a  fe-jiale 
on  Walrus  islet  last  fall,  the  first  one  ever  recorded. 

GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  WALRUS  OF  ALASKA. — The  walrus  has,  however,  a  very  wid'j  range 
of  distribution  in  Alaska,  though  not  near  so  great  as  in  prehistoric  titnes.t  They  abound  to  the  eastward  and 
southeastward  of  St.  Paul,  over  in  Bristol  bay,  where  great  numbers  congregate  on  the  sand-bars  and  flats,  now 
flooded,  now  bared  by  the  rising  and  ebbing  of  the  tide.  They  are  hunted  here  to  a  considerable  extent  for  their 
ivory;  no  walrus  are  found  south  of  the  Aleutian  islands;  still,  not  more  than  forty -five  or  fifty  years  ago,  small 
gatherings  of  these  animals  were  killed  here  and  there  on  the  islands  between  Kadiak  and  Oonimak  pass;  the 
greatest  aggregate  of  them,  south  of  Bering  straits,  will  always  be  found  in  the  estuaries  of  Bristol  bay  and  on  the 
north  side  of  the  peninsula. 

PREHISTORIC  RANGE  OF  THE  WALBUS. — Geologists  find  the  record  of  the  great  ice  period  well  filled  up  by 
the  range  of  the  walrus,  then,  as  far  down  on  the  Atlantic  coast  as  the  littoral  margins  of  South  and  North 
Carolina;  and  its  fossil  remains  are  common  in  the  diluvial  deposits  of  England  and  France,  while  the  phosphate 
beds  of  New  Jersey  are  exceedingly  rich  in  old  walrus  bones;  but,  within  historic  times,  there  is  no  evidence  that 
points  to  the  existence  of  the  walrus  on  the  New  England  coast.  During  the  last  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  they 
are  known  to  have  frequented  the  southern  confines  of  Nova  Scotia.  That  hardy  navigator,  James  Cartier,  tells 
us,  in  his  quaint  vernacular,  that  in  May,  1534,  he  met  at  the  island  of  "Ramea"  (probably  Sable  island),  sporting 
in  the  sea,  "very  greate  beastes,  as  greate  as  oxen,  which  have  two  greate  teeth  in  their  mouths  like  unto  Elephant's 
teeth,  &  live  also  in  the  Sea.  We  saw  them  sleeping  on  the  banke  of  the  water;  wee,  thinking  to  take  it,  went 
with  our  boates,  but  so  soon  as  he  heard  us  he  caste  himselfe  into  the  sea".  Another  old  salt,  "Thomas  James,  of 
Bristoll,"  speaking  of  the  same  subject  shortly  after,  says,  "the  fish  cometh  on  banke  (to  do  their  kind)  in  April, 
May,  and  June,  by  numbers  of  thousands,  which  fish  is  very  big,  and  hath  two  great  teeth :  and  the  skin  of  them 
is  like  Beeff'es  leather;  and  they  will  not  away  from  their  yong  ones.  The  yong  ones  are  as  good  meat  as  Veale. 
And  with  the  bellies  of  five  of  the  saide  fishes  they  make  a  hogshead  of  Traine,  which  Traine  is  very  sweet,  which, 

the  walrus  is  concerned.  There  were  no  females  or  young  among  the  herds  of  Mosmarus  which  I  observed  at  Walrus  island ;  hence,  I  am 
unable  myself  to  give  any  facts  based  upon  life-studies. 

The  reported  affection  and  devotion  of  the  mother  walrus  seems  only  natural,  being,  as  it  is,  the  rnle  throughout  all  the  higher 
grades  of  mammalia;  while  this  attitude  of  the  sea-lion  and  fur-seal  is  decidedly  opposed  to  it ;  and,  were  it  not  that  it  was  so  plainly 
presented  in  a  thousand  and  one  cases  to  my  senses,  I  should  have  seriously  doubted  its  correctness.  Still,  the  best  authority  that  I  can 
recognize  on  the  habits  of  the  Pliocidce,  Kumlein,  says  that  the  hair-seals  all  display  the  same  indifference  which  I  portray  in  this  respect 
as  characteristic  of  the  fur-seal  and  sea-lion. — [Kumlein:  Contributions  to  the  Natural  History  of  Arctic  America.  Hull.  U.  S.  National 
Museum :  Washington,  p.  59,  1879.  ] 

*  I  personally  made  no  experiments  touching  the  peculiarity  of  sinking  immediately  after  being  shot ;  of  course,  on  reflection,  it 
will  appear  to  any  mind  that  all  seals,  no  matter  how  fat  or  how  lean,  would  siuk  instantly  out  of  sight,  if  not  killed  at  the  stroke  of  the 
bullet ;  even  if  mortally  wounded,  the  great  involuntary  impulse  of  brain  and  muscle  would  be  to  dive  and  speed  away ;  for  all 
swimming  is  submarine  when  the  pinnipeds  desire  to  travel. 

Touching  this  mooted  question,  I  had  an  opportunity  when  in  Port  Townsend,  during  1874,  to  ask  a  man  who  had  served  as  a 
partner  in  a  fur-sealing  schooner  off  the  straits  of  Fuca.  He  told  me  that  unless  the  seal  was  instantly  killed  by  the  passage  of  the  rille 
bullet  through  its  brain,  it  was  never  secured,  and  would  sink  before  they  could  reach  the  bubbling  wake  of  its  disappearance ;  if,  however 
the  aim  of  the  marksman  had  been  correct,  then  the  body  was  invariably  taken  within  five  to  ten  minutes  after  the  shooting.  Only  one 
man  did  the  shooting;  all  the  rest  of  the  crew,  10  to  12  white  men  and  Indians,  manned  canoes  and  boats  which  were  promptly 
dispatched  from  the  schooner,  after  each  report,  in  the  direction  of  the  shooting.  How  long  one  of  the  bodies  of  these  '''clean  "killed  seals 
would  float,  he  did  not  know ;  the  practice  always  was  to  get  it  as  quickly  as  possible,  fearing  that  the  bearings  of  its  position,  when  shot 
from  the  schooner,  might  be  confused  or  lost ;  he  also  affirmed  that,  in  his  opinion,  there  were  not  a  dozen  men  on  the  whole  northwest 
coast  who  were  good  enough  with  a  rifle,  and  expert  at  distance  calculation,  to  shoot  fur-seals  successfully  from  the  deck  of  a  vessel  on  the 
ocean.  The  Indians  of  Capo  Flattery  get  most  of  the  pelagic  far-seals  by  cautiously  approaching  from  the  leeward  when  they  are  asleep, 
and  throwing  line  darts  or  harpoons  into  them  before  they  awaken. 

tl  have  been  frequently  questioned  whether,  in  my  opinion,  it  was  more  than  a  short  space  of  time  ere  the  walrus  was  exterminated 
or  not,  since  the  whalers  had  begun  to  hunt  them  in  Bering  sea  and  the  Arct-c  ocean.  To  this  I  frankly  make  answer,  that  I  do  not  know 
enough  of  the  subject  to  give  correct  judgment.  The  walrus  spend  most  of  their  time  in  waters  that  are  within  reach  of  these  skillful 
and  hardy  navigators ;  and  if  they  (the  walrus)  are  of  sufficient  value  to  the  whaler,  he  can,  and  undoubtedly  will,  make  a  business  of 
killing  them,  and  work  the  same  sad  result  that  he  has  brought  about  with  the  mighty  schools  of  cetacea,  which  once  whistled  and  bared 
their  backs  throughout  the  now  deserted  waters  of  Bering  sea  in  perfect  peace  and  seclusion  prior  to  1842.  The  returns  of  the  old  Russian 
America  Company  show  That  an  annual  average  of  10,000  walrus  have  been  slain  by  the  Eskimo  since  1799  up  to  1867.  There  are  a  great 
many  left  yet.  But  unless  the  oil  of  Kosmarus  becomes  very  precious,  commercially,  I  think  the  shoal  waters  of  Bristol  bay  and  Kuskokvira 
mouth,  together  with  the  eccentric  tides  thereof,  will  preserve  it  indefinitely.  Forty  years  ago,  when  the  North  Pacific  was  the  rendezvous  of 


(,         i/1    '  / 

'f**-    r<   in  M 

Il:  '  ;i 

-        -f  //,i  !!! 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  99 

if  it  will  make  sope,  the  Kiug  of  Spaiue  may  burne  some  of  bis  Olive  trees."  (!)  This  spice  of  Yankee  enterprise  in 
"sope",  evidently,  did  not* come  to  a  successful  head.* 

THE  \VALB us  "  BIDARRAH  ". — The  finest  bidarrah  skin-boats  of  transportation  that  I  have  seen  in  this  country, 
were  those  of  the  St.  Lawrence  natives ;  these  were  made  out  of  dressed  walrus  hides,  shaved  and  pared  down  by 
them  to  the  requisite  thickness,  so  that  when  they  were  sewed  with  sinews  to  the  wooden  whalebone-lashed  frames 
of  these  boats,  they  dried  into  a  pale,  greenish- white, -prior  to  oiling;  and  were  even  then  almost  translucent,  tough 
and  strong. 

USES  OF  WALRUS  HIDES. — Until  I  saw  the  bidarrahs  of  the  St.  Lawrence  natives  in  1874,  I  was  more 
or  less  inclined  to  believe  that  the  tough,  thick,  and  spongy  hide  of  the  walrus  would  be  too  refractory  in 
dressing  for  use  in  covering  such  light  frames,  especially  those  of  the  bidarka;  but  the  manifest  excellence  and 
seaworthiness  of  these  Eskimo  boats  satisfied  me  that  I  was  mistaken.  I  saw,  however,  abundant  evidence  of  the 
much  greater  labor  required  in  tanning  or  paring  down  the  thick  cuticle  to  that  thin,  tough  transparency  so  marked 
on  their  bidarrahs ;  for  the  pelt  of  the  hair-seal,  or  sea-lion,  does  not  require  aiiy  more  attention  when  applied  to 
this  service  than  simply  unhairing  it ;  this  is  done  by  first  sweating  the  "loughtak"  in  piles,  then  rudely,  but  rapidly, 
•scraping,  with  blunt  knives  or  stone  flensers,  the  hair  oif  in  large  patches  at  every  stroke;  the  skin  is  then  air-dried, 
being  stretched  on  a  stout  frame,  where,  in  the  lapse  of  a  few  weeks,  it  becomes  as  rigid  as  a  board.  When  required 
for  use  thereafter,  it  is  soaked  in  water  until  soft  or  "  green  "  again,  then  it  is  sewed  with  sinews,  while  in  this  fresh 
condition,  tightly  over  the  slight  wooden  skeleton  of  the  bidarka  or  the  heavier  frame  of  the  bidarrah.  In  this 
manner  the  skin-boats  and  lighters  at  the  islands  are  covered  ;  then  they  are  air-dried  thoroughly  before  oiling, 
which  is  dorfe  when  the  skin  has  become  well  indurated,  so  as  to  bind  the  ribs  and  keel  as  with  an  iron  plating ; 
the  thick,  unrefined  seal -oil  keeps  the  water  out  for  twelve  to  twenty  hours,  according  to  the  character  of  the  hides; 
when,  however,  the  skin-covering  begins  to  "bag  in"  between  the  ribs  of  the  frame,  then  it  is  necessary  to  haul  the 
bidarrah  out  and  air-dry  it  again,  and  re-oiling.  If  attended  to  thoroughly  and  constantly,  those  skin-covered  boats 
are  the  best  species  of  lighter  which  can  be  used  at  these  islands,  for  they  will  stand  more  thumping  and  pounding 
on  the  rocks  and  alongside  ship  than  all  wooden,  or  even  corrugated  iron  lighters  could  endure,  and  remain  seaworthy. 

MANNER  OF  DRESSING  WALRUS  AND  SEA-LION  HIDES. — I  noticed  that  the  St.  Lawrence  Eskimo  pared  the 
walrus  hide  down  from  the  outer  surface  or  hairy  side;  while  at  St.  Paul,  when  it  became  necessary  to  reduce  the 
thickness  of  a  sea-lion's  skin  at  spots  around  the  neck  and  shoulders,  the  paring  was  done  on  the  fleshy  side. 
Very  little  thinning,  however,  was  needed  in  the  case  of  sea-lion  "  loughtak  r.t 

GASTRONOMIC  QUALITIES  OF  WALRUS  MEAT. — The  flavor  of  the  raw,  rank  mollusca,  upon  which  it  feeds 
seems  to  permeate  the  fiber  of  the  flesh,  making  it  very  offensive  to  the  civilized  palate;  but  the  Eskimos,  who  do 

the  greatest  whaling  fleet  that  ever  floated,  those  vessels  could  not,  nor  can  they  now,  approach  nearer  than  sixty  or  even  eighty  miles  of 
the  muddy  shoals,  sands,  and  bars  upon  -which  the  walrus  rest  there ;  scattered  in  herds  of  a  dozen  or  so  in  numbers  np  to  bodies  of 
thousands;  living  in  lethargic  peace,  and  almost  unmolested,  except  in  several  small  districts  which  are  carefully  hunted  over  by  the 
natives  of  Oogashik  for  oil  and  ivory.  I  have  been  credibly  informed  that  they  also  breed,  in  Bristol  bay,  and  along  the  coast  as  far  north 
as  Cape  Avinova,  during  some  seasons  of  exceptional  rigor  in  the  Arctic. 

*I  depart  from  the  Pacific  walrus,  for  a  moment,  in  thus  speaking  of  its  Atlantic  brother  with  reference  to  the  testimony  of  the  rocks 
as  to  its  limit  of  southern  range  north  of  the  equator;  for  the  thought  of  herds  of  walrus  floating  do-wn  on  immense  frigid  floes  over  the 
present  low  lauds  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  and  of  Anvers  and  near  Paris,  France,  is  an  interesting  one,  relative  to  the  features  of 
the  great  ice  age;  down  they  came,  that  is  certain.  Van  Beneden  aud  Leidy-have  recently  figured  their  aged  bones  as  they  are  silicified 
or  cast  in  the  marls  of  those  southern  coasts  and  interiors.  [See  Leidy,  Tran*.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.,  xi,  1860,  Philadelphia.  Van  Beneden:  De* 
de  0*8.  Foss.  ties  Envirtw  <?Anters;  Annales  Mas.  d'Hist.  Xat.  de  Belgique,  1877,  tome  i,  pp.  40-41.]  No  such  bones  ha-ve  as  yet  been  founp 
on  the  northwest  coast,  or  in  Alaska. 

t  When  I  stepped,  for  the  first  time,  into  the  baidar  of  St.  Paul  island,  and  went  ashore,  from  the  "Alexander",  over  a  heavy  seai 
safely  to  the  lower  bight  of  Lukannon  bay,  my  sensations  were  of  emphatic  distrust;  the  partially  water-softened  skin-oovcring  would 
puff  up  between  the  wooden  ribs,  and  then  draw  back,  as  the  waves  rose  and  fell,  so  much  like  an  unstable  support  above  the  cold  green 
water  below,  that  I  frankly  expressed  my  surprise  at  snch  an  outlandish  craft.  My  thoughts  quickly  turned  to  a  higher  appreciation  of 
those  hardy  navigators  who  used  these  vessels  in  circumpolar  seas  years  ago,  and  the  Russians,  who,  more  recently,  employed  bidarrahs 
chiefly  to  explore  Alaskan  and  Kamtchatkan  terra  incognita.  There  is  an  old  poem  in  Aritus,  written  by  a  Roman  as  early  as  445  A.  D. ;  it 
describes  the  ravages  of  Saxon  pirates  along  the  southern  coasts  of  Britain,  whojised  just  snch  vessels  as  is  this  bidarrah  of  St.  Paul. 

Qnin  et  armoricns  piratim  Saxona  tractns 

Spirabat,  cui  pelle  falum  fulcare  Britannum 

Ludus,  et  assuto  glaucnm  mare  findere  lembo. 

These  boats  were  probably  covered  with  either  horse  or  bull's  hides.  When  used  in  England  they  were  known  as  coracles;  in  Ireland 
they  were  styled  curachs;  Pliny  tells  us  that  Ciesar  moved  his  army  in  Britain  over  lakes  and  rivers  in  such  boats.  Even  the  Greeks  used 
them,  terming  them  karabia;  and,  the  Russian  word  of  korabl',  or  "ship",  is  derived  from  it.  King  Alfred,  in  870-872,  tells  us  that  the 
Finns  made  sad  havoc  among  the  Swedish  settlements  on  the  numerous  "meres"  (lakes)  in  the  moors  of  their  country,  by  "carrying  their 
ships  (baidars)  overland  in  the  meres  whence  they  make  depredations  on  the  Northmen :  their  ships  are  small  and  very  light". 

All  air-dried  seal  pelts,  no  matter  whether  hair-  or  fur-seal,  sea-  lion  or  -n  alms  hides,  are  called  by  the  Aleutians,  and  also  by  the 
Kamtc-hadales,  "loughtak"  or  "lofftak".  When  the  natives  of  Kamtchatka  told  Steller  in  1740-'42,  that  the  large h,airrseal,  Phocabarbata, 
\\:is  known  to  them  as  "loughtak",  they  evidently  did  not  give  him  their  specific  upme  for  the  seal;  but  rather  expressed  their  sense  of  iis 
large  skin,  which  was  so  highly  prized  by  them  as  to  lie  ''the  loughtak"  of  all  other  loughtak  in  those  waters  of  their  country.  Eriynathu* 
barbatus  has  never  been  seen  around  or  on  these  islands  of  the  Pribylov  group,  but  every  air-dried  fur-seal,  or  sea-lion  skin,  there,  is  i-alk-d. 
"loughtak"  by  the  people. 


100  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

not  have  the  luxurious  spread  of  sea-lion  steak  and  fur-seal  hams,  regard  it  as  highly  and  feed  upon  it  as  steadily 
as  we  do  our  own  best  corn-fed  beef.  Indeed,  the  walrus  to  the  Eskflno  answers  just  as  the  cocoa-palm  does  to 
the  South  Sea  islander;  it  feeds  him,  it  clothes  him,  it  heats  and  illuminates  his  "igloo";  and  it  arms  him  for  the 
chase,  while  he  builds  his  summer  shelter  and  rides  upon  the  sea  by  virtue  of  its  hide.  Naturally,  however,  it  is  not 
much  account  to  the  seal-hunters  on  the  Pribylov  islands ;  they  still  find,  by  stirring  up  the  sand-dunes  and  digging 
about  them  at  Northeast  point,  all  the  ivory  that  they  require  for  their  domestic  use  on  the  islands,  nothing  else 
about  the  walrus  being  of  the  slightest  economic  value  to  them.  Some  authorities  have  spoken  well  of  walrus 
meat  as  an  article  of  diet;  either  they  had  that  sauce  for  it  born  of  inordinate  hunger,  or  else  the  cooks  deceived 
them.  Starving  explorers  in  the  arctic  regions  could  relish  it — they  would  thankfully  and  gladly  eat  anything 
that  was  juicy,  and  sustained  life,  with  zest  and  gastronomic  fervor.  The  Eskimo  naturally  like  it;  it  is  a 
necessity  to  their  existence,  and  thus  a  relish  for  it  is  acquired.  I  can  readily  understand,  by  personal  experience, 
how  a  great  many,  perhaps  a  majority  of  our  own  people,  could  speak  well,  were  they  north,  of  seal  meat,  of  whale 
"rind",  and  of  polar  bear  steaks,  but  I  know  that  a  mouthful  of  fresh  or  "cured"  walrus  flesh  would  make  their 
"gorges  rise".  The  St.  Paul  natives  refuse  to  touch  it  as  an  article  of  diet  in  any  shape  or  manner.  I  saw  them 
removing  the  enormous  testicles  of  one  of  the  old  bull  walrus  which  was  shot,  for  my  purposes,  on  Walrus  island; 
they  told  me  that  they  did  so  in  obedience  to  the  wish  of  the  widow  doctress  of  the  village,  Maria  Seedova,  who 
desired  a  pair  for  her  incantations. 

Curiosity,  mingled  with  a  desire  to  really  understand,  alone  tempted  me  to  taste  the  walrus  meat  which  was 
placed  before  me  at  Poonook,  on  St.  Lawrence  island;  and  candor  compels  me  to  say  that  it  was  worse  than  the  old 
beaver's  tail  which  I  had  been  victimized  within  British  Columbia;  worse  than  the  tough  brown-bear  steak  of  Bristol 
bay — in  fact,  it  is  the  worst  of  all  fresh  flesh  of  which  I  know;  it  has  a  strong  flavor  of  an  indefinite  acrid  nature, 
which  turned  my  palate  and  my  stomach  instantaneously  and  simultaneously,  while  the  surprised  natives  stared 
in  bewildered  silence  at  their  astonished  and  disgusted  guest.  They,  however,  greedily  put  chunks,  two  inches 
square  and  even  larger,  of  this  flesh  and  blubber  into  their  mouths  as  rapidly  as  the  storage  room  there  wouid 
permit;  and,  with  what  grimy  gusto !  the  corners  of  their  large  lips  dripping  with  the  fatness  of  their  feeding.  How 
little  they  thought  then,  that  in  a  few  short  seasons  they  would  die  of  starvation  sitting  in  these  same  igloos — their 
caches  empty  and  nothing  but  endless  fields  of  barren  ice  where  the  life-giving  sea  should  be.  The  winter  of  1879-'SO 
was  one  of  exceptional  rigor  in  the  Arctic,  although  in  the  United  States  it  was  unusually  mild  and  open.  The  ice 
closed  in  solid  around  St.  Lawrence  island — so  firm  and  unshaken  by  the  giant  leverage  of  wind  and  tide,  that  the 
walrus  were  driven  far  to  the  southward  and  eastward  beyond  the  reach  of  the  unhappy  inhabitants  of  that  island, 
who,  thus  unexpectedly  deprived  of  their  mainstay  and  support,  seem  to  have  miserably  starved  to  death,  with  the 
exception  of  one  small  village  on  the  north  shore.  The  residents  of  the  Poonook,  Poogovellyak,  and  Kagallegak 
settlements  perished,  to  a  soul,  from  hunger ;  nearly  three  hundred  men,  women,  and  children.  I  recall  the  visit 
which  I  made  to  these  settlements,  in  August,  1874,  with  sadness,  in  this  unfortunate  connection,  because  they 
impressed  me  with  their  manifest  superiority  over  the  savages  of  the  northwest  coast.  They  seemed,  then,  to 
be  living,  during  nine  months  of  the  year,  almost  wholly  upon  the  flesh  and  oil  of  the  walrus.  Clean  lirnbe  1, 
bright  eyed,  and  jovial,  they  profoundly  impressed  me  with  their  happy  reliance  and  subsistence  upon  the  walrus 
herds  of  Bering  sea.  I  could  not  help  remarking  then,  that  these  people  had  never  been  subjected  to  the 
temptations  and  subsequent  .sorrow  of  putting  their  trust  in  princes;  hence,  their  independence  and  good  heart. 
But  now  it  appears  that  it  will  not  do  to  put  your  trust  in  walrus,  either. 

I  know  that  it  is  said  by  Parry,  by  Hall,  and  lately  by  others,  that  the  flesh  of  the  Atlantic  walrus  is  palatable; 
perhaps  the  nature  of  food-supply  is  the  cause.  We  all  recognize  the  wide  diiference  in  pork  from  hogs  fed  on  corn 
and  those  fed  on  beech  mast  and  oak  acorns,  and  those  which  have  lived  upon  the  offal  of  the  slaughtering  houses 
or  have  gathered  the  decayed  castings  of  the  sea  shore ;  the  walrus  of  Bering  sea  lives  upon  that  which  does  not 
give  pleasant  flavor  to  its  flesh. 

IMPERFECTION  OF  WALRUS  IVORY. — Touching  the  ivory,  I  was  struck,  in  looking  over  the  tusks  as  they  protruded 
from  the  live  animals'  mouths,  by  the  fact  that  only  rare  examples  of  perfect  teeth  could  be  found ;  they  were 
broken  off  irregularly,  some  quite  close  to  the  socket,  hardly  a  single  animal  having  a  sound  and  uniform  pair  of 
tusks.  Most  of  the  walrus  ivory  taken  is  of  very  poor  quality ;  it  has  a  deep  core,  or  yellow,  suspended  pith,  and 
is  frequently  so  cracked,  where  the  ivory  is  the  whitest  and  the  firmest,  as  to  be  of  mere  nominal  value;  but 
exceptional  teeth  now  and  then  occur,  of  prodigious  size  and  superior  texture ;  the&e  are  carefully  treasured  and 
sold  to  great  advantage. 

THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  WALRUS  HUNTING.— Generally,  when  we  look  for  the  earliest  records  of  this  or  that 
action  or  occupation,  we  are  treated  to  a  vast  store  of  indeterminate  material,  upon  which  any  theory  or  conjecture 
may  be  raised.  But,  touching  the  case  of  the  hunting  of  the  fur-seal  and  the  walrus,  in  northern  waters,  we 
have  exact  data  as  to  records  of  the  earliest  chase  and  capture  of  these  animals  by  our  own  people.  The 
history  of  walrus  hunting  comes  down  to  us  from  rare  old  antiquity,  in  this  way:  Shortly  after  868  A.  D.,  King 
Alfred,  of  England,  gave  a  translation  of  the  Spanish  Ormestra,  or  "  Di  miserere  mundi,"  of  Paul  Orosius,  in  his 
mother  tongue,  the  Anglo  Saxon ;  into  this  complete  and  only  geographical  review  of  the  earth's  form,  as  known  at 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA;  '  101 

that  time,  he  interwove  the  relations  of  Othere  and  the  Dane  Wulfstan.  The  former  was  a  great  man  from  ^Norway ; 
he  undertook  a  voyage  of  discovery  beyond  the  north  cape  of  his  native  land,  and  to  the  than  unknown  eastward 
as  far  as  our  modern  Finland,  which  he  indicated  as  the  "country  of  the  Beormas".  He  shaped  his  course  to  this 
region,  "on  account  of  the  horse  whales,  inasmuch  as  they  have  very  good  bone  in  their  teeth";  also,  "this  sort  of 
whale  is  much  less  than  the  other  kinds,  it  being  not  larger  commonly  than  seven  ells";  and  states  further  that  he, 
Othere,  "had  killed  fifty-six  in  two  days". 

DESCHNEV  THE  FIRST  TO  SEE  THE  WALRUS  OF  BEKENG  SEA. — The  earliest  personal  record  made  of  the  walrus 
of  Bering  sea,  was  the  discovery  of  these  animals  by  Simeon  Deschnev,  that  Cossack  who,  first  of  all  civilized  men, 
sailed  through  Bering  straits,  October,  1648 ;  and  who  made  use  of  their  ivory,  en  voyage,  in  repairing  his  rude 
shallop.  He  also,  in  1651,  discovered  extensive  sand  shoals  north  of  the  Anadyr  mouth,  upon  which  large  herds  of 
walrus  were  resting.  But  in  this  connection  it  is  proper  to  say,  that  the  walrus  of  Bering  sea  is  the  same  animal 
of  which  Isaiah  Ignatiev  learned  in  1646,  when  he  led  a  party  of  Russian  fur-hunters  east  of  the  month  of  the 
Kolyma  as  far  as  Tchaun  bay.  He  did  not  see  it,  however,  and  traded  with  the  Tschukchies  for  the  teeth  in 
question.  His  report  of  a  nation  rich  in  walrus  ivory  far  to  the  eastward  along  the  shores  of  the  Polar  ocean,  is 
what  stimulated  the  remarkable  voyage  of  Deschnev,  above  referred  to,  as  well  as  many  others  who  were  not 
so  successful,*  viz:  Staduchin,  Alexiev,  Ankudiuov,  Buldakov,  all  in  1647-1649. 

BOREAL  RANGE  OF  THE  WALRUS  OF  BERING  SEA. — The  range  of  the  Bering  sea  walrus  now  appears  to  be 
restricted  in  the  Arctic  ocean  to  an  extreme  westward  at  Cape  Chelagskoi,  on  the  Siberian  coast,  and  an  extreme 
eastward  between  Point  Barrow  and  the  region  of  Point  Beechey,  on  the  Alaskan  shore.  It  is,  however,  substantially 
confined  between  Koliutchin  bay,  Siberia,  and  Point  Barrow,  Alaska.  As  far  as  its  distribution  in  polar  waters  is 
concerned,  and  how  far  to  the  north  it  travels  from  these  coasts  of  the  two  continents,  I  am  unable  to  present  any  well 
authenticated  data  illustrative  of  the  subject ;  the  shores  of  Wrangell  Land  were  found  this  year  (1881)  in  possession 
of  walrus  herds. 

The  Japanese  seem  to  have  known  of  the  walrus  of  Bering  sea,  but  evidently  have  not  observed  it — at  least,  I 
think  so,  from  the  testimony  of  their  spirited  drawings  of  this  animal.  They  represent  it  with  the  body,  the  neck, 
and  the  limbs  of  a  horse,  running  on  camel-like  feet,  with  an  equine  head,  from  the  upper  jaw  of  which  two 
enormous  tusks  depend;  it  is  made  to  gallop  rather  as  a  land-  than  a  sea-horse.  The  hair-seals  are  very  much 
better  delineated  by  both  Chinese  and  Japanese  artists;  and,  further,  no  suggestion,  by  such  means,  has  been 
made  of  the  fur-seal  by  them. 

The  chief  demand  for  walrus  ivory  first  came,  and  still  comes,  from  those  patient,  skillful  Mongolian  hand- 
carvers,  who  work  the  teeth  up  into  a  variety  of  exceedingly  attractive  articles,  both  useful  and  fanciful.  "Wrangell 
-says  that  the  Tschukchies  "  make  long,  narrow  drinking  vessels  from  the  teeth",  which  require  much  time  to  hollow 
out;  they  are  frequently  sold  to  the  Reindeer  Tschukchies,  who  convey  them  to  the  Russians. 

The  walrus  ivory  carving  of  the  Alaskan  Mahlemoots,  at  Oogashik  and  Nushagak,  in  particular,  is  remarkably 
well  executed ;  clever  and  even  beautiful  imitations  of  our  watch  chains,  guards,  table,  and  pocket  cutlery,  rings, 
bracelets,  and  necklace  jewelry  are  made  by  them.  They  have  earned  the  just  reputation  of  being  "  the  sculptors  of 
the  north". 

PARRY'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  ATLANTIC  WALRUS. — In  closing  here  this  brief  biography  of  the  walrus  of  Bering 
sea,  I  desire  to  say  that  the  graphic  and  detailed  account  given  by  Sir  Edward  Parry,  in  the  narrative  of  his  third 
voyage  to  the  north  pole,  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Eskimo  hunt  and  use  the  walrus  of  Prince  Regent  inlet 
(Odvbccnus  rosmarm),  fitly  expresses  my  own  observations  made  at  St.  Lawrence  island,  among  the  Tschukchie 
Eskimo  there;  hence,  I  shall  not  embody  them  in  type;  my  illustrations  will  supply  the  vacancy  which  his  accurate 
and  lengthy  description  alone  allows.!  I  call  attention  to  this  economic  history  of  the  Atlantic  walrus  by  Parry, 
for,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  written  with  great  fidelity. 

*Allcn  erroneously  gives  the  credit  (on  p.  172,  Hist,  of  \.  A.  Pinnipeds)  of  first  discovery  and  report  of  the  walrus  ivory  of  Bering 
sea  to  "the  Cossak  adventurer  Staduchin,  who  found  (about  1645  to  1648)  its  tusks  on  the  Tschnkchie  coast,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Kolyma  river.  A  century  later,  Deschnev  also  found  Targe  quantities  of  walrus  teeth  on  the  sand-bars  at  the  mouth  of  the  Anadyr". 
Michael  Staduchiu  did  not  sail  from  the  Kolyma  month  until  1649.  He  ventured  at  that  time  as  far  east  probably  as  Cape  Chelagskoi ; 
he  was  obliged  to  return  then,  after  getting  a  load  of  walrus  teeth  from  the  Tschukchies,  hut  from  whom  he  could  get  no  meat  or 
provision  of  any  kind ;  he  saw  110  more  than  his  predecessor,  Ignatiev,  did,  three  years  prior ;  in  other  words,  he  did  not  then  see  the 
walrus  itself. 

tAs  the  natives  of  the  Pribylov  islands  do  not  hunt  the  walrus,  I  have,  in  my  studies  of  this  animal,  introduced  the  figures,  method, 
and  costumes  of  the  St.  Lawrence  Eskimo,  which  faithfully  typify  the  entire  Alaskan  people,  who  live  largely  upon  the  flesh  of  this  animal. 
I  do  so,  not  only  on  account  of  its  being  wholly  germane  to  the  subject  of  my  discussion  in  this  monograph,  but  more  so,  as  it  is  the  first 
pictorial  presentation  of  the  ideas  involved  ever  given. 


102  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


•>    -V         ..     •- 


EL  A    BRIEF   11EVIEW  OF   OFFICIAL   REPORTS   UPON  THE   CONDUCT   OF 

AFFAIRS  ON  THE  SEAL-ISLANDS. 

19.  SPECIAL  INVESTIGATIONS  OF  LIEUT.  WAS  QB  URN  MAYNARD,  U.  S.  N. 

A  SYNbPSis  OP  LIEUT.  MAYNARD'S  REPORT. — In  closing  this  biology  of  the  seal-life  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  it 
it  is  not  superfluous  on  ipy  part  to  present  to  the  reader  a  brief  review  of  the  writings  which  have  been  ordered  by 
the  government  upon  the  condition  of  the  subject  at  the  islands.  I  have  previously  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  prior  to  my  work  in  1872  and  1874,  inclusive,  a  singular  absence  of  a  business-like  and  succinct  method  of 
comprehensive  information  existed  in  the  archives  of  the  Treasury  Department,  which  is  charged  by  law  with  the 
absolute  control  of  these  interests,  and  is  responsible  to  Congress  for  the  same.  In  order,  therefore,  that  this 
statement  of  mine  shall  not  pass  as  a  mere  assertion  on  my  part,  I  deem  it  due  to  the  history  of  the  subject  of  this 
memoir,  at  the  present  writing,  to  give  a  brief  abstract  of  the  labors  of  those  officials  of  the  government  who  have 
made  the  fur-seals  of  Alaska  the  thesis  of  their  publications  and  correspondence.  These  papers  are  so  scattered  that 
a  combination  here  of  their  substance  may  not  be  uninteresting.  I  shall  comment  only  upon  those  documents  which 
have  a  direct  reference  to  the  Pribylov  islands. 

SPECIAL  REPORT  OF  LIEUT.  WASHBURN  MAYNARD,  U.  S.  N. — Before  touching  upon  the  specjal  labors 
of  the  treasury  officials,  I  wish  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  following  synopsis  of  an  exceedingly 
concise  and  interesting  contribution  to  the  subject  of  the  business  on  the  seal-islands.  It  is  from  the  pen  of  Lieut. 
Washburn  Maynard,  U.  S.  N.,  and  was  submitted  by  him  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  on  the  30th  of  November, 
1874.  His  work  of  investigation  was  in  obedience  to  the  order  of  Congress  expressed  in  an  act  approved  April  22, 
1874.  The  occasion  of  this  gentleman's  labor  arose  directly  from  the  constant  and  reiterated  charges,  made  more  by 
insinuation  than  by  specific  writing,  against  the  correctness  of  my  published  position  in  regard  to  the  conduct  of  the 
business  on  the  seal-islands,  and  he  proceeded  to  that  field  of  duty  conscious  of  the  fact,  and  determined  to  settle 
it  as  far  as  he  was  able  to,  by  a  thorough  and  personal  scrutiny  of  the  whole  subject.  He  did  so ;  and  I  now  desire 
to  embody  the  substance  of  his  communication  above  referred  to. 

The  only  fault  which  can  be  found  with  Lieutenant  Maynard's  report  is,  that  it  is  exceedingly  brief,  though 
explicit.  I  should  say  here  that  he  evidently  did  not  consider  this  writing,  from  which  I  shall  quote,  more  than 
a  simple  statement  of  fact,  and  made  it  in  the  nature  of  an  answer  to  the  order  of  a  superior  officer. 

20.  SYNOPSIS  OF  LIEUT.  MAYNARD'S  INVESTIGATIONS. 

THE  SUBSTANCE  OP  LIEUT.  MAYNARD'S  REPORT. — The  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  or  the  seal-islands, 
as  they  are  more  commonly  called,  are  the  principal  ones  of  the  Pribylov  group;  the  other  two,  known  as  Otter  and 
Walrus,  are  merely  outlying  islets.  They  are  situated  in  Bering  sea,  between  the  parallels  of  56°  to  58°  of  north 
latitude  and  169°  to  171°  of  west  longitude.  St.  Paul  has  an  area  of  33  square  miles,  while  St.  George  claims  but 
29,  with,  respectively,  42  and  29  miles  of  shore-line  each. 

CLIMATE. — They  are  enveloped  in  summer  by  dense  fogs,  through  which  the  sun  rarely  makes  its  way,  and  are 
surrounded  in  severe  winters  by  fields  of  ice  driven  down  by  the  Arctic  winds.  They  have  no  sheltered  harbors 
beyond  slight  indentations  in  the  shore-line  that  afford  a  lee  for  vessels  and  tolerable  landing  places  for  boats  when 
certain  winds  are  blowing. 

SHORES  AND  VEGETATION. — The  shores  are  bold  and  rocky,  with  strips  of  sand-beach,  and  are  covered  by 
broken  rocks  at  intervals  between  them.  The  interior  of  both  islands  is  broken  and  hilly ;  neither  tree  nor  shrub 
grows  upon  them,  but  they  are  clothed  with  grass,  moss,  and  wild  flowers.  For  nearly  one  hundred  years  fur-seals 
have  been  known  to  visit  them  annually  in  great  numbers  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  forth  and  raising'  their  young, 
which  circumstance  gives  those  islands  their  great  commercial  impoBtance. 

HABITS  OF  THE  SEAL. — These  seals  occupy  the  islands  from  the  breaking  away  of  the  ice  in  the  spring  until  it 
surrounds  their  coasts  again  in  early  winter,  that  is,  from  the  middle  of  May  until  December.  In  milder  hyenial 
seasons,  when  there  is  little  or  no  ice  about  the  islands,  a  few  seals  have  been  seen  swimming  around  in  the  water 
throughout  the  entire  year,  but  these  exhibitions  rarely  occur.  The  fur-seals  are  not  known  to  haul  up  on  land 
elsewhere  within  the  limits  of  the  North  Pacific  ocean,  except  at  Bering  and  Copper  islands,  lying  in  Bering  sea 
near  the  Asiatic  coast,  and  Bobbin's  reef,  a  small  rock  on  the  coast.  They  certainly  go  from  those  landing  places 
to  the  southward  in  the  fall,  for  they  are  frequently  seen  in  the  sea,  either  solitary  or  in  shoals  of  thousands,  and 
are  killed  in  the  water  all  the  way  from  Sitka  to  the  straits  of  Fuca.  In  1833,  54  were  taken  by  the  Russians  on 
the  Farralone  islands,  off  seaward  from  the  entrance  to  the  bay  of  San  Francisco.  There  seems  to  be  no  reason 
why  they  cannot  remain  in  the  water  during  the  entire  time  they  are  absent  from  the  islands,  for  they  eat  their  food 
there  at  all  times,  and  are  able  to  sleep  upon  its  surface. 

CLASSIFICATION  qf  THE  SEALS. — They  may  be  divided  into  two  classes,  the  breeding  and  the  non-breeding 
seals;  the  former  comprise  the  full  grown  males  or  bulls,  the  adult  females  or  cows,  and  their  young  or  pups;  the 


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THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  103 

latter  embrace  the  young  or  bachelor  males  and  the  yearlings  of  both  classes.  Each  of  these  classes  leave  the  water 
and  haul  up  along  the  shores  of  the  islands  nearly  in  juxtaposition  to  each  other  as  they  are  massed  on  the  land, 
but  they  are  entirely  separate.  They  choose  certain  portions  of  the  shore  to  the  exclusion  of  the  rest,  not  all  of  any 
one  class  being  together,  but  spreading  into  many  communities,  which  are  often  several  miles  apart. 

POSITION  OF  THE  BREEDING-ROOKERIES. — The  breeding  seals  occupy  a  slip  of  ground,  between  the  cliffy 
which  is  covered  with  bowlders  and  broken  rocks,  beginning  a  few  feet  above  high-water  mark,  and  extending  back 
over  a  depth  of  from  50  to  200  feet  in  a  compact  and  uniform  mass  Such  places  are  called  breeding-rookeries. 

POSITION  OF  THE  HAULING-GROUNDS. — The  non-breeding  seals,  on  the  contrary,  are  scattered  over  the  sand, 
beaches  and  the  higher  ground  in  the  rear  without  any  regular  order  of  distribution.  When  these  hauling-grounds 
He  to  the  rear  of  the  breeding-grounds,  as  they  sometimes  do,  pathways  are  left  open  in  the  rookeries  at  convenient 
points,  to  allow  a  passage  up  from  the  sea  and  back  thereto,  for  the  non-breeding  seals. 

DUMBER  OF  ROOKERIES.— There  are  7  rookeries  on  St.  Paul  island,  extending  with  the  adjacent  hauling- 
grounds  over  one-third  of  its  shore-line,  and  on  St.  George  island  there  are  5  breeding  places  and  hauling  reaches, 
which,  however,  take  up  less  than  one-tenth  of  its  coast.  These  breeding-grounds  are  re-occupied  each  year  with 
but  little  change. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  LANDING  OF  THE  SEAL. — About  the  middle  of  May,  usually,  the  bulls,  which  are  the  first 
of  the  breeding-seals  to  arrive,  crawl  from  the  water  and  establish  the  rookeries  in  readiness  for  the  cows  that 
begin  to  come  somewhat  later.  It  seems  probable  that  the  rookeries  are  occupied  by  the  same  bulls  and  cows  from 
year  to  year,  as  they,  the  rookery  grounds,  change  but  little,  either  in  size  or  form;  but  it  has  been  proven 
that  the  bachelors  do  not  return  to  the  same  hauling-grounds,  or  even  to  the  same  island,  with  regularity  from  year 
to  year.  The  time  of  arrival  of  cows  is  governed  by  their  period  of  gestation,  as  they  do  not  appear  on  the  rookeries 
until  within  a  short  time  of  giving  birth  to  their  pups.  Hence  all  do  not  come  at  the  same  period,  but  arrive 
continuously  from  the  last  days  of  May  until  the  middle  of  July. 

POLYGAMOUS  AND  ANGRY  NATURE  OF  THE  MALES. — The  bulls  are  polygamous,  having  from  20  to  50  cows 
each,  so  the  number  of  them  upon  the  rookeries  is  not  more  than  one-tenth  of  that  of  the  cows.  They  have  frequent 
and  bloody  fights  for  the  possession  and  retention  of  their  places  upon  the  breeding-grounds,  and  for  control  of  the 
cows,  in  which  they  are  often  killed,  or  are  driven  from  the  rookeries,  and  are  more  or  less  badly  bitten  by  the 
sharp  teeth  of  their  opponents.  The  females  do  not  even  always  escape  unhurt,  as  two  males  seize  one  and  literally 
tear  her  in  two  by  their  struggle  for  her  possession. 

ARRIVAL  OF  THE  FEMALES  AND  BIETH  OF  THEIR  YOUNG. — The  cows  are  continuously  arriving  upon  the 
rookeries  and  giving  birth  to  their  pups,  from  the  last  of  May  until  the  middle  of  July.  Usually  each  female  bears 
a  single  pup,  though  I  have  been  told  by  persons,  whose  statement  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt,  that  they  have 
witnessed  one  or  two  instances  of  twins.  From  the  20th  to  the  25th  of  July  the  rookeries  are  fuller  than  at  any 
other  time  during  the  season,  as  the  pups  have  all  been  bom,  and  all  the  bulls,  cows,  and  pups  remain  within  these 
limits. 

PROTRACTED  FASTING  OF  THE  MALES. — During  the '  breeding-season,  which  lasts  three  consecutive  months, 
or  nearly  so,  the  bulls  remain  upon  the  rookeries,  never  leaving  them  for  an  instant,  even  to  procure  food.  This 
fast,  and  the  constant  watchfulness  necessary  to  keep  their  harems  together,  and  to  prevent  the  encroachments  of 
other  bulls,  and  the  service  of  the  cows,  renders  their  position  no  sinecure.  Their  emaciated  bodies  and  loose  and 
wrinkled  skins  at  the  close  of  the  season  are  in  marked  contrast  to  the  fat,  sleek-looking  cows,  for  the  latter  have 
been  constantly  going  and  coming  between  the  rookeries  and  the  water,  so  that  at  any  one  time  there  are  seldom 
more  than  one-half  of  the  females  on  land. 

CHANGES  AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  SEASON. — About  the  first  of  August  the  breeding-season  ends,  and  the  pups, 
which  grow  rapidly,  now  are  large  and  strong  enough  to  move  about,  so  that  the  rookeries  begin  to  lose  their 
compact  form  and  rigid  exclusiveuess.  The  bulls  begin  to  go  into  the  water,  their  places  being  filled  by  the 
younger  males,  which  up  to  this  time  have  not  been  allowed  by  the  older  males  to  go  upon  the  rookeries,  while  the 
cows  and  pups  spread  back  over  the  hauliugs  in  scattered  groups,  and  occupy  more  than  twice  the  space  that  had 
previously  held  them. 

ARRIVAL  AND  LANDING  OF  THE  BACHELOR  SEALS. — Meanwhile  the  young  males  or  bachelor  seals  have  been 
coining  to  the  hauliug-grouuds,  which  are  covered  more  or  less  thickly  by  them  all  summer.  They  do  not  remain 
on  shore  long  at  any  one  time,  but  haul  up  to  sleep  and  play  for  awhile,  and  then  return  to  the  water  for  food.  They 
are  so  numerous,  however,  that  thousands  can  always  be  seen  upon  the  hauling-grounds,  because  all  of  them  are 
never  either  on  shore  or  in  the  water  at  the  same  time.  The  yearling  seals,  distinguished  by  their  size,  and  the 
silvery  color  of  their  sides  and  abdomens,  do  not  make  their  appearance  until  the  latter  part  of  July ;  then 
they  arrive  together  in  a  great  body,  males  and  females,  and  go  out  upon  the  hauling-grouuds  in  large  numbers 
and  play  one  with  the  other  for  hours  at  a  time.  The  bachelors  join  them  in  their  sport,  and  singling  out  the  baby 
cows  form  mimic  rookeries,  and  imitate  the  roaring,  fighting,  and  caressing  of  the  bulls  in  a  ludicrous  manner. 

SHEDDING  OF  THE  PUPS  AND  THEIR  LEARNING  TO  S\VIM. — In  September  and  October  the  pups  exchange 
their  coat  of  black  hair,  which  has  been  their  only  covering  from  their  birth,  for  one  of  fur  and  hair  combined, 
similar  in  appearance  to  that  of  the  yearling,  and  then  begin  to  learn  to  swim,  so  as  to  be  read}-  for  their  departure 


104  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

from  the  islands  in  November  and  December.  Prior  to  this  period  many  of  them  are  killed  by  the  surf,  especially 
if  the  season  be  a  stormy  one,  since  they  are  not  strong  enough  swimmers  or  expert  enough  to  save  themselves 
from  being  dashed  against  the  rocks  by  the  heavy  rollers.  The  cows  remain  with  their  p*ips  and  suckle  them,  until 
all  classes  have  left  the  islands,  usually  by  the  1st  or  10th  of  December.  It  is  probable  that  of  all  the  seals  born 
each  year  an  aggregate  of  about  one  half  are  males.  The  experiment  was  tried  of  examining  one  hundred  pups, 
taken  at  random  from  the  rookeries,  and  in  that  number  the  sexes  were  about  equally  divided.  The  number  of 
bachelor  seals  in  proportion  to  the  cows  would  also  seem  to  confirm  the  supposition. 

CHARACTERISTIC  CHANGES  OF  THE  PELAGE. — There  is  not  the  slightest  perceptible  difference  in  appearance 
between  the  seals  of  the  two  classes,  either  in  the  first  or  in  the  second  year  after  their  birth,  but  as  they  grow  older 
they  vary  and  diverge  in  the  tinting  of  their  coats,  so  as  to  be  readily  determined  each  from  the  other.  The  pups  when 
born  have  only  short  black  hair,  no  fur.  This  coat  is  gradually  replaced  in  their  first  year  by  a  dress  of  fine  elastic 
fur,  of  a  light  buff  color,  and  of  hair  longer  than  the  fur,  so  as  to  cover  it  completely  and  give  that  silvery-gray  to 
their  sides  and  bellies,  and  that  dflrk  gray  characteristic  of  their  necks  and  heads.  The  color.of  their  hair  changes 
in  their  second  year  to  a  uniform  dark  gray.  In  their  fifth  year  the  hair  upon  the  neck  and  shoulders  of  the  males 
begins  to  grow  coarser  and  longer,  forming  a  sort  of  inane,  which  increases  in  length  and  stiffness  until  the  animal 
attains  its  full  growth,  during  the  lapse  of  its  eighth  or  ninth  year  of  life.  The  females  are  not  found  upon  the 
hauling-grounds  with  the  males  after  they  are  two  years  old,  hence  it  seems  probable  that  they  go  from  the  rookery 
in  their  third,  and  bear  a  pup  in  their  fourth  year.  When  both  are  full  grown  the  sexes  differ  most  widely  in 
appearance;  the  male,  weighing  from  four  to  five  hundred  pounds,  is  about  three  times  as  large  as  the  female,  has 
a  mane,  and  is  either  black  or  dark  brown  in  color.  The  tinting  of  the  female  is  a  soft,  rich  brown  on  the  back  and 
sides,  changing  almost  to  orange  upon  the  belly,  and  there  is  no  mane.  The  fur  of  the  cows  is  rather  thicker  and 
finer  than  that  of  the  yearling  seals,  though  the  skins  of  young  males  from  three  to  six  years  old  are  not  very  much 
inferior. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  KNOWING  THE  NUMBER  OF  SEALS. — It  is  of  very  great  significance  in  this  connection  to 
know  how  many  seals  come  annually  to  the  islands,  or  rather  to  understand  how  many  may  be  killed  for  their  skins 
annually,  without  causing  less  to  come  hereafter  than  do  at  the  present  time.  To  determine  how  many  there  are 
with  accuracy  is  a  task  almost  on  a  par  with  that  of  numbering  the  stars.  The  singular  motion  of  the  animals  when 
on  shore,  the  great  variety  in  size,  color,  and  position;  the  extent  of  surface  over  which  they  are  spread,  and  the  fact 
that  it  cannot  be  determined  exactly  what  proportion  of  them,  of  their  several  classes,  are  on  shore,  at  any  given 
time;  all  these  desiderata  for  comprehension  make  it  simply  impossible  to  get  more  than  an  approximation  of  their 
numbers.  They  have  been  variously  estimated  at.  from  one  to  fifteen  millions. 

METHODS  OF  ENUMERATION  OF  THE  FUR-SEAL. — I  think  the  most  accurate  enumeration  yet  made  is  that 
by  Mr.  H.  W.  Elliott,  special  agent  of  the  Treasury  Department,  in  1872.  This  calculation  is  based  upon  'the 
hypothesis  that  the  breeding-seals  are  governed  in  hauling  by  a  common  and  invariable  law  of  distribution,  which 
is,  that  the  area  of  the  rookery  ground  is  directly  proportional  to  the  number  of  seals  occupying  it.  He  estimates  that 
there  is  one  seal  to  every  two  square  feet  of  rookery  surface.  Hence  the  problem  is  reduced  to  the  simple  operation 
of  obtaining  half  the  sum  of  the  superficial  area,  of  all  the  rookeries  in  square  feet.  He  surveyed  these  breeding- 
grounds  of  both  islands  in  1872  and  1873,  when  at  their  greatest  limit  of  expansion,  and  obtained  the  following- 
results:  Upon  St.  Paul  island  there  were  0,000,000  feet  of  ground  occupied  by  3,030,000  breeding-seals  and 
their  young.  On  St.  George  island  he  announced  320,840  square  feet  of  superficial  rookery  area  occupied  by 
163,420  breeding-seals  and  their  young;  a  total  for  both  islands  of  3,193,420  breeding  seals  and  their  young.  The 
number  of  non-breeding  seals  cannot  be  determined  in  the  foregoing  manner,  as  they  haul  most  irregularly,  but 
it  seems  to  me  probable  that  they  are  nearly  as  numerous  as  the  other  class  is.  If  so,  it  would  give  not  far  from 
6,000,000  as  the  stated  number  of  seals  of  all  kinds  which  visited  the  Pribylov  islands  during  the  season  of  1872. 

GENERAL  ACCURACY  OF  THESE  RESULTS. — It  is  likely  that  these  figures  are  not  far  from  the  truth,  but  1  do  not 
think  it  necessary  myself  to  take  into  consideration  the  actual  number  of  seals  in  order  to  decide  the  question  of 
how  many  can  be  taken  each  year  without  injury  to  the  fishery.  The  law  that  the  size  of  the  rookeries  varies 
directly  as  the  number  of  seals  increases  or  diminishes,  seems  to  me,  after  close  and  repeated  observation,  to  be 
correct.  All  the  rookeries,  whether  large  or  small,  are  uniform  in  appearance,  alike  compact,  without  waste  of 
space,  and  never  crowded.  Such  being  the  case,  it  is  unimportant  to  know  the  actual  number  of  seals  upon  the 
rookeries.  For  any  change  in  the  number  of  seals,  which  is  the  point  at  issue,  increases  or  decreases  in  size, 
and  the  rookeries  taken  collectively,  will  show  a  corresponding  increase  or  decrease  in  the  number  of  breeding- 
seals;  consequently  changes  in  the  aggregate  of  pups  born  annually  upon  which  the  extent  and  safety  of  the 
fisheries  depends,  can  be  observed  accurately  from  year  to  year  by  following  these  lines  of  survey. 

SURVEYED  PLATS  OF  THE  ROOKERIES. — If,  then,  apian  or  map  of  each  rookery  be  made  every  year,  showing 
accurately  its  size  and  form,  when  at  its  greatest  expansion,  which  is  between  the  10th  and  25th  of  July  annually, 
a  comparison  of  this  map  will  give  the  relative  number  of  the  breeding-seals  as  they  increase  or  dimhuV.i  from 
year  to  year.  I  submit  with  this  report  maps  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  islands,  showing  the  extended 
location  of  breeding  rookeries,  and  hauling-grounds  upon  them.  These  maps  are  from  surveys  made  in  July,  1874, 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  105 

• 

by  Mr.  Elliott  and  myself,  and  a  map  of  each  rookery  on  both  islands  drawn  from  careful  surveys  made  by  Mr. 
Elliott  in  1872,  show  them  now  as  they  were  in  the  season  of  1874  as  compared  with  that  of  1872.  I  respectfully 
recommend  that  enlarged  copies  of  these  latter  maps  be  furnished  to  the  government  agents  in  charge  of  the 
islands,  and  that  they  be  required  to  compare  them  each  year  with  the  respective  rookeries,  and  note  what  change 
in  size  and  form,  if  any,  exists  upon  them.  This,  if  carefully  done,  will  afford  data,  after  a  time,  by  which  the 
seal  fisheries  can  be  regulated  with  comparative  certainty,  so  as  to  produce  the  greatest  revenue  to  the  government, 
without  injury  to  this  valuable  interest. 

NUMBER  OF  SEALS  KILLED. — Since  1870  there  have  been  killed,  on  both  islands,  112,000  young  male  seals  each 
year.  Whether  this  slaughter  has  prevented  the  seals  from  increasing  in  numbers  or  not,  and,  if  so,  to  what 
extent,  can  only  be  deduced  from  their  past  history,  which  unfortunately  is  very  imperfectly  given.  In  1836  to 
1839  there  were  fewer  seals  upon  the  islands  than  had  ever  been  seen  before  since  their  first  discovery  in  1786.  On 
St.  Paul  island,  then,  there  were  not  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  of  all  kinds.  The  killing  of  them  was 
then  stopped,  and  not  resumed  until  1845,  when  it  was  done  gradually,  and,  as  had  never  been  the  case  before, 
only  the  young  males  were  killed.  The  rookeries  continued  to  increase  in  size  until  1857,  since  which  time  they 
have  remained  in  about  the  same  aggregate,  although  a  less  number  of  bachelor  seals  were  killed  yearly  between 
1857  and  1868  than  have  been  slaughtered  since. 

THOUGHTS  ON  THEIR  INCREASE  AND  DIMINUTION  FOR  THE  FUTURE. — This  would  seem  to  show  that  there 
is  a  limit  beyond  which  they  will  not  increase,  and  that  this  limit,  a  natural  one,  has  been  reached.  If  they  could 
be  under  our  control  and  protection  at  all  times,  and  if  a  sufficient  supply  of  food  for  them  could  be  procured,  we 
"would  doubtless  be  able  to  cause  them  to  multiply,  for  there  are  more  of  both  sexes  born  each  year  than  are 
necessary  to  meet  the  losses  from  the  natural"  causes  of  death,  such  as  old  age,  diseases,  and  accidents,  and,  in 
reality,  we  do  not  even  know  where  they  are  and  what  they  are  about  for  seven  months  in  each  year,  while  we  do 
know  that  they  have  deadly  enemies,  which  make  sad  havoc,  particularly  among  the  pups  and  yearlings,  inas- 
much as  a  single  killer-whale  has  been  found  to  have  as  many  as  16  young  seals  in  its  stomach,  when  destroyed 
and  opened  for  examination. 

THE  EXTENT  OF  HUMAN  PROTECTION. — Our  protection  of  them  can  only  be  partial;  that  is  to  say,  we  can 
limit  the  number  to  be  killed  when  they  are  within  our  reach,  and  prevent  their  being  dispersed  on  the 
breeding  rookeries,  or  driven  from  the  islands.  On  the  other  hand,  the  question  raised  is,  whether  the 
killing  of  the  number  above  mentioned  has  had,  or  has  not  had.  the  effect  of  decreasing  the  aggregate  number 
of  seals.  Judging  from  the  comparison  between  the  maps  of  the  rookeries  as  they  were  in  1872,  and  the 
condition  of  the  rookeries  themselves  as  surveyed,  and  from  the  testimony  of  the  best  informed  men  on  the  island, 
both  whites  and  natives,  I  think  it  has  not  as  yet.  Since  the  young  males  alone  are  killed,  injury  would  be 
efl'ected  through  this  action,  if  it  did  not  allow  a  sufficient  number  to  reach  that  maturity  necessary  for  the 
satisfaction  of  all  demands  of  the  breeding  females  on  the  rookeries.  The  young  males  do  not  grow  strong  enough  to 
reach  the  rookeries  until  they  are  at  least  six  years  old;  hence,  the  effect  of  the  first  year's  kill-ng  cannot  be  seen  in  that 
connection  until  the  pups  have  attained  this  age.  For  that  reason  it  seems  to  me  that  it  is  now  a  little  too  soon  to 
decide  whether  we  are  killing  too  many  or  not,  since  the  present  conduct  of  affairs  has  now  been  only  four  years  in 
opevation.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  more,  even  twice  as  many  as  are  now  killed  annually,  might  be  taken  every 
year  without  injury,  but  it  would  be  making  a  severe  and  most  hazardous  experiment  before  any  definite  result 
has  been  obtained  from  the  first,  which  is  now  in  operation.  The  number  now  killed  annually  is  entirely 
experimental,  because  wo  have  nothing  to  start  from  in  the  past  as  a  basis  of  estimation  for  the  future  until  the 
effect  produced  is  satisfactorily  shown.  I  would,  therefore,  not  recommend  an  extension  of  the  contract  as  to  the 
number  of  seals  to  be  killed  until  within  seven  or  eight  years  from  the  date  of  the  one  now  existing  went  into 
effect,  when,  if  the  rookeries  have  not  decreased  in  si/e,  it  can  then  safely  be  done. 

THE  LEASE  OF  THE  ISLANDS. — In  June,  1870,  Congress  passed  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  prevent  the 
extermination  of  the  fur-bearing  animals  in  Alaska",  which  authorized  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  lease  to 
private  parties  for  a  term  of  years  the  right  to  engage  in  the  business  of  taking  fur-seals  on  the  islands  of  St. 
Paul  and  St.  George,  under  certain  specified  conditions  and  restrictions.  Therefore,  the  subject  was  publicly 
advertised,  and  bids  solicited,  the  privilege  to  be  awarded  to  the  highest  responsible  bidder.  A  number  of 
individuals  doing-  business  in  San  Francisco  under  the  firm-name  of  the  "Alaska  Commercial  Company"  were  the 
successful  bidders,  and  the  right  was  granted  to  them  under  the  terms  of  the  lease  now  in  force  (a  copy  of  which 
is  here  annexed)  for  a  period  of  twenty  years,  from  the  1st  day  of  May,  1870.  The  terms  were  not  arranged  and 
the  lease  delivered  until  the  31st  day  of  August,  1870,  and  the  vessels  and  agents  of  the  company  did  not  reach 
the  islands  until  the  1st  of  October.  The  season  allowed  by  law  for  killing  seals  being  nearly  over,  but  few  skins, 
consequently,  were  taken  by  the  company  that  year  (3,448  on  St.  Paul,  and  5,789  on  St.  George  island).  But 
the  following  and  each  succeeding  year  they  have  taken  nearly  the  full  number. 

"\Yhen  the  lease  was  made  it  was  erroneously  supposed  that  there  were  about  one-third  as  many  seals  on  St. 
George  island  as  there  were  on  St.  Paul,  and,  in  consequence  of  this  understanding,  the  number  to  be  taken  from 
each  island  was  fixed  at  25,000  and  75,000  respectively.  In  reality  there  are  only  about  one-eighteenth  as  many 
on  the  former  as  on  the  latter,  which  fact  having  been  clearly  shown  by  Mr.  Elliott,  the  power  was  given  to  the 


106  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

• 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury  by  Congress  to  change  the  ratio  on  each  island  to  a  correct  basis.  In  consideration  of 
being  the  only  company  allowed  to  take  fur-seals  on  the  islands,  it  has  agreed  to  pay  a  yearly  rental  for  the  use  of 
them,  and  a  tax  or  duty  upon  each  skin  taken  and  shipped  from  them;  not  to  kill  more  than  the  stipulated  number 
of  seals,  and  seals  of  a  particular  kind ;  not  to  molest  them  on  the  rookeries  or  in  the  water,  and  to  do  nothing 
\vhich  would  tend  to  frighten  them  from  the  islands,  to  provide  for  the  comfort,  maintenance,  education,  and 
protection  of  the  native  inhabitants,  and  neither  to  furnish  nor  allow  any  of  its  agents  to  use  distilled  spirits  or 
spirituous  liquors,  or  to  supply  them  to  any  of  the  natives.  . 

EMPLOYES  OP  THE  ALASKA  COMMERCIAL  COMPANY. — The  company  employs  on  St.  Paul  an  agent  who  has 
general  charge  of  the  business  on  both  islands,  three  assistants,  a  physician,  a  school  teacher,  three  carpenters, 
a  cooper,  a  steward,  and  a  cook;  and  on  St.  George,  an  agent,  a  physician,  a  school  teacher,  and  a  cook. 

CONDUCT  OF  THE  SEALING. — The  great  work  of  the  season,  the  taking  and  curing  of  seal-skins,  begins  the  first 
week  in  June,  and  is  pushed  forward  as  rapidly  as  possible,  as  the  skins  are  in  the  best  condition  early  in  the 
season.  This  year  90,000  skins  were  taken  on  St.  Paul  by  eighty-four  men  in  thirty-nine  days.  The  natives  do 
all  the  work  of  driving,  killing,  and  skinning  the  seals,  and  of  curing  and  bundling  the  skins,  under  the  direction 
of  the  company's  agents  and  of  their  own  chiefs.  The  first  operation  is  that  of  driving  the  seals  from  the 
hauling-  to  the  killing-grounds.  The  latter  are  near  the  salt-houses,  which  are  built  at  points  most  convenient 
for  shipping  the  skins,  and  all  the  killing  is  done  upon  them,  in  order  not  to  disturb  the  other  seals,  and  to 
save  the  labor  of  carrying  the  skins.  The  seals  suitable  for  killing  (which  are  the  young  males  from  two  to 
six  years  old)  are  readily  collected  into  droves  upon  the  hunting-grounds  by  getting  between  them  and  the 
water,  and  are  driven  as  easily  as  a  flock  of  sheep.  They  move  in  a^clumsy  gallop,  their  bellies  being  raised  entirely 
from  the  ground,  upon  their  flippers,  which  gives  them,  when  in  motion,  the  appearance  of  bears.  They  are 
sometimes  called  "sea-bears"  on  account  of  this  resemblance.  In  driving  them  care  is  taken  not  to  hurry  them, 
for  if  driven  too  fast  they  crowd  together  and  injure  the  skins  by  biting  each  other,  and  also  become  overheated 
and  exhausted.  They  are  driven  from  one-half  mile  to  five  miles  in  from  three  to  thirty-six  hours,  according  to  the 
location  of  the  hauliug-grounds.  After  reaching  the  killing-grounds  they  are  allowed  to  rest  and  coo]  for  several 
hours,  particularly  if  the  drive  has  been  a  long  one.  The  drives  vary  in  number  from  five  hundred  to  as  many 
thousand,  as  there  happen  to  be  few  or  many  seals  upon  the  hauling-ground  where  the  drive  is  made.  In  each 
drive  there  are  some  seals  that  are  either  so  large  or  so  small  that  their  skins  are  not  desirable,  and  sometimes  a 
few  females  are  driven  up,  not  often,  however,  as  they  seldom  stray  from  the  rookeries.  All  such  are  singled  out 
and  permitted  to  escape  to  the  water.  The  killing  is  done  with  a  blow  on  the  head  by  a  stout  club,  which  crushes 
the  skull,  after  which  the  skins  are  taken  off  and  carried  into  the  salt-houses.  During  the  first  half  of  the  month 
of  June,  from  five  to  eight  per  cent,  of  the  seals  in  the  drive  are  turned  away,  being  either  too  small  or  too  large, 
and  from  ten  to  twelve  per  cent,  during  the  latter  half.  In  July  the  percentage  is  still  greater,  being  about  forty 
per  cent,  for  the  first  and  from  sixty  to  seventy-five  per  cent,  for  the  latter  half.  About  one-half  the  seals  killed  are 
•  about  three  years  old,  one-fourth  four,  and  the  remainder  two,  five,  and  six.  No  yearlings  have  been  killed  up  to 
the  present  time,  though  allowed  by  the  lease,  as  their  skins  are  too  small  to  be  saleable  in  the  present  state  of  the 
trade,  but  by  some  change  in  it  they  may  become  desirable  in  the  future  and  would  then  be  taken.  This  would,  however, 
injure  the  fisheries,  because  the  yearlings  of  both  sexes  haul  together,  and  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  separate 
them  so  as  to  kill  only  the  males.  There  has  been  a  waste  in  taking  the  skins,  due  partly  to  the  inexperience  of  the 
company's  agent,  and  partly  to  accident  and  the  carelessness  of  the  natives.  In  making  the  drive,  particularly  if 
they  are  long,  and  the  sun  happens  to  pierce  through  the  fog,  some  of  the  seals  become  exhausted  and  die  at  such 
a  distance  from  the  salt-houses  that  their  skins  cannot  well  be  carried  to  them  by  hand,  and  are  therefore  left  upon 
the  bodies.  This  was  remedied  during  the  last  killing-season,  by  having  a  horse  and  cart  to  follow  the  drive  and 
to  collect  such  skins.  Some  skins  have  also  been  lost  by  killing  more  seals  at  a  time  than  the  force  of  men 
employed  could  take  care  of  properly.  Good  judgment  and  constant  care  are  required  in  taking  the  skins,  as  fifteen 
minutes'  exposure  to  the  sun  will  spoil  them,  by  loosening  the  fur.  Another  source  of  waste  is  by  cutting  the  skins 
in  taking  them  off'  in  such  a  manner  as  to  ruin  them.  It  was  very  difficult  at  first  to  induce  the  natives  to  use 
their  knives  carefully,  and  several  hundred  skins  were  lost  in  a  season  by  careless  skinning;  but  by  refusing  to 
accept  and  pay  for  badly-cut  skins,  the  number  has  been  greatly  reduced,  so  that  the  loss  this  year  on  St.  Paul 
was  but  one  hundred  and  thirty  from  all  causes.  The  salt-houses  are  arranged  with  large  bills  called  kenches,  made 
of  thick  planks,  into  which  the  skins  are  put,  fur-side  down,  with  a  layer  of  salt  between  each  two  layers  of  skins. 
They  become  sufficiently  cured  in  from  five  to  seven  days,  and  are  then  taken  from  the  kenches  and  piled  up  in 
"books",  with  a  little  fresh  salt.  Finally  they  are  prepared  for  shipment  by  rolling  them  into  compact  bundles,  two 
skins  in  each,  which  are  secured  with  stout  lashings.  The  largest  of  these  bundles  weigh  sixty  four  pounds,  but 
their  average  weight  is  but  twenty-two.  The  smallest  skins,  those  taken  from  seals  two  years  old,  weigh  about 
seven  pounds  each,  and  the  largest,  from  seals  six  years  old,  about  thirty. 

COUNTING  THE  SKINS. — The  skins  are  counted  four  times  at  the  island,  as  follows:  by  the  company's  agent  and 
the  native  chiefs  when  they  are  put  into  the  salt-houses,  the  latter  giving  in  their  accounts,  after  each  day's  killing, 
to  the  government  agent;  again  when  they  are  bundled  by  the  natives,  who  do  the  work,  as  each  is  paid  for  his 
labor  by  the  bundle;  by  the  government  agents  when  they  are  taken  from  the  salt-houses  for  shipment,  and  the 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  107 

fourth  time  by  the  first  officer  of  the  company's  steamer,  as  they  are  delivered  on  board.  An  official  certificate  of 
the  number  of  skins  shipped  is  made  out  and  signed  by  the  government  agents  in  triplicate,  one  copy  being  sent 
to  the  Treasury  Department,  one  to  the  collector  of  San  Fraucisco,  the  third  given  to  the  master  of  the  vessel  in 
which  they  are  shipped.  The  amount  of  the  tax  or  duty  paid  by  the  company  to  the  government  is  determined  by 
the  result  of  a  final  counting  at  the  custom-house  in  San  Francisco.  The  books  of  the  company  show  that  it  has 
paid  into  the  treasury  since  the  date  of  the  lease  (up  to  the  present  writing,  November  30,  1S74),$170,480  54  on 
account  of  the  rental  of  the  islands,  and  $1,057,709  74  as  tax  on  the  seal-skins  taken.  The  latter  sum  is  less  by 
$16,4o8  63  than  the  tax  that  should  have  been  paid  had  one  hundred  thousand  skins  been  taken  each  year  since 
1870,  or,  in  other  words,  6,269  fewer  skins  have  been  shipped  than  the  law  permitted.  The  record  kept  at  the 
islands  by  both  the  government's  and  company's  agents  shows  that  in  1871  but  19,077  skins  were  taken  from  St. 
George  instead  of  25,000,  the  legal  number  allowed,  and  that  every  year  since  the  number  shipped  has  fallen  a  little 
short  of  100,000. 

POLICY  OF  THE  ALASKA  COMMERCIAL  COMPANY. — The  company  has  wisely  adopted  a  fair  and  liberal  policy 
in  its  dealings  with  the  natives,  and  is  more  than  repaid  for  the  expense  incurred  by  the  increased  ease  and  rapidity 
with  which  they  work  while  taking  skins.  I  examined  carefully  the  books  and  papers  of  the  company,  both  at  its 
office  in  San  Francisco  and  upon  the  island ;  also  the  record  kept  by  the  government  agents,  and  talked  privately 
with  the  most  intelligent  of  the  natives,  but  I  was  unable  to  discover  by  so  doing  that  there  has  been  any  fraud 
practiced  toward  the  government,  or  want  of  compliance  with  the  terms  of  the  lease.  The  natives  keep  a  jealous 
watch  upon  the  seals,  being  fully  impressed  with  the  fact  that  their  welfare  depends  upon  the  safety  of  the  fisheries, 
and  they  are  also  well  informed  in  regard  to  all  laws  and  contracts  which  have  been  made  by  the  government 
concerning  them. 

TREATMENT  OF  THE  NATIVES  BY  THE  COMPANY. — The  lease  requires  that  provision  be  made  by  the  company 
for  the  comfort,  maintenance,  education,  and  protection  of  the  native  inhabitants  of  the  islands. 

The  natives  do  all  the  work  of  taking  and  curing  the  seal-skins,  for  which  they  are  paid  by  the  company  forty 
cents  a  skin.  This  produces  each  year  a  fund  of  $40,000,  which  is  divided  between  the  inhabitants  of  the  two 
islands,  according  to  the  number  of  skins  taken  from  each,  which  gives  $30,000  to  the  people  of  St.  Paul,  and 
$10,000  to  those  of  St.  George.  In  addition  to  this,  they  are  paid  forty  cents  apiece  for  sea-lion  skins,  ten  cents 
for  their  throats,  and  $5  a  barrel  for  their  intestines.  As  this  sum  is  earned  by  the  joint  labor  of  all  the  able-bodied 
men,  it  is  considered  a  common  fund,  to  be  divided  equitably  among  them.  Payment  is  made  for  all  other  labor  to 
each  individual  performing  it  at  established  rates.  In  dividing  the  sealing  fund,  the  ability  of  the  sealers  is 
considered,  and  the  division  made  accordingly.  Thus  the  strongest  and  most  skillful  men,  who  work  the  entire 
season,  receive  a  first  class  share.  Those  who  are  less  skillful,  and  the  old  men  who  are  unable  to  do  the  harder 
part  of  the  work,  receive  second  and  third  shares,  while  the  boys  who  take  part  in  the  sealing  for  the  first  time 
receive  a  fourth  class  share.  The  assignment  of  shares  is  made  by  the  chiefs  and  acquiesced  in  by  the  others. 
Each  year,  after  all  the  skins  have  been  taken,  the  chiefs  furnish  the  company's  agents  with  a  list  of  the  men  who 
have  been  engaged  in  sealing  during  the  season,  and  the  share  assigned  to  each.  The  second,  third,  and  fourth 
class  are,  respectively,  90,  80,  and  70  per  cent  of  the  first  class  share.  Two  first  class  shares  are  voluntarily  given 
for  the  support  of  the  church,  and  one  for  that  of  the  priest.  The  value  of  the  shares  varies  a  little  from  year  to 
year,  with  the  number  of  men  engaged  in  sealing.  This  year  (1874)  it  was  for  each,  respectively,  $429  53,  $368  58, 
$343  62,  and  $300  63.  The  result  of  the  division  is  formally  wade  to  the  people  by  the  company's  agents,  through 
the  chiefs  and  in  the  presence  of  the  government's  agents.  These  sums  are  not  paid  at  the  time  to  the  natives,  but 
are  placed  to  their  credit  in  the  book  of  the  company  and  in  pass-books  which  are  furnished  to  each  man.  All 
other  labor  is  paid  for  in  coin  when  performed,  at  the  rate  of  from  6  to  10  cents  an  hour,  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  work,  except  that  of  bundling  skins,  which  is  at  the  rate  of  1  cent  a  bundle.  The  first  chief  is  paid  a 
monthly  salary  of  $15,  and  eacli  of  the  others,  three  in  number,  one  of  $10,  in  addition  to  their  shares  of  the 
sealing  fund.  Other  natives,  men  and  women,  employed  throughout  the  year  in  other  capacities,  receive  from  $1 
to  $30  a  mouth  and  board. 

THE  COMPANY'S  STORE. — Clothing,  provisions,  and  other  articles  are  kept  in  the  company's  store-houses  on 
the  island,  and  are  sold  to  the  natives  at  prices  not  exceeding  those  for  which  the  same  could  be  bought  at  retail  in 
San  Fraucisco.  I  examined  the  goods,  and  found  them  to  be  of  good  quality.  The  people  have  but  little  idea  of 
economy,  and  would  spend  all  their  money  in  a  short  time  for  certain  articles  of  which  they  are  fond,  hence  it  is 
necessary  to  limit  their  sale,  such  as  butter,  sugar,  and  perfumery.  They  are  encouraged  to  save  money  by  the 
company,  which  receives  deposits  from  them,  subject  to  the  usual  rules  of  "savings  banks",  and  pays  an  interest 
of  9  per  cent,  per  anuum.  Deposits  range  from  $100  to  $1,100.  The  church  has  a  deposit  of  $8,000.  Some  are  in" 
debt  to  the  company,  but  become  less  so  every  year.  Such  as  are  without  means  of  support,  widows  and  orphan 
children,  are  supported  by  the  company. 

SANITARY  ADVANCEMENT. — The  natives  live  partly  in  "barrabaras,"  or  earth  houses,  and  partly  in  comfortable 
frame-houses.  Thirty  of  the  latter  have  been  built  within  the  last  two  years  by  the  company,  and  given  rent  free. 
Others  are  being  built  as  rapidly  as  possible,  it  being  the  intention  of  the  company  to  give  each  family  a  house. 
The  lease  requires  the  annual  delivery  upon  the  island  of  sixty  cords  of  tire-wood,  and  twenty-five  thousand  dried 


108  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

salmon,  for  the  use  of  the  natives ;  but,  with  the  consent  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  coal,  ton  for  cord,  has 
been  substituted  for  the  former,  and  an  equivalent  quantity  of  salted  salmou  and  codfish  for  the  latter.  Both  have 
been  regularly  supplied,  as  shown  by  the  receipts  of  the  government  agent  and  the  statements  of  the  natives, 
together  with  as  much  salt  and  as  many  barrels  as  have  been  desired  for  curing  and  storing  their  seal-meat. 

Two  physicians  are  in  the  employ  of  the  company,  one  residing  on  each  island,  who  are  charged  with  the  care 
of  the  sick,  and  have  already,  by  their  efforts,  seconded  by  the  example  of  the  other  white  residents,  induced 
greater  cleanliness  and  a  more  healthful  mode  of  living  among  the  natives. 

SCHOOL  ATTENDANCE. — The  education  of  the  native  children  has  not  been  neglected,  though  so  far  the 
attempt  to  teach  them  has  not  been  as  successful  as  could  be  desired.  For  each  island  a  competent  teacher,  a 
convenient  and  well-warmed  school-room,  and  a  supply  of  school-books,  ete.,  have  been  provided  every  year  from 
the  first  of  October  until  the  first  of  June,  but  the  difficulty  has  been  to  induce  the  parents  to  send  their  chidren.  as 
they  do  not  think  them  able  to  learn  both  English  and  Russian,  and  as  the  latter  is  the  language  of  their  church 
they  consider  it  the  most  important.  The  average  attendance  at  the  school  on  St.  George  has  been  but  five  or  six, 
while  there  are  from  thirty  to  forty  children,  and  on  St.  Paul  but  four  or  five,  with  from  forty  to  fifty  children. 
Last  year  on  the  latter  island  there  was  a  better  attendance,  and  the  children  made  considerable  progress. 
The  prejudice  of  the  older  people  seems  likely  to  wear  away,  as  they  learn  a  little  English  themselves  from 
constantly  heariug  it,  and  will  doubtless  disappear  after  a  time. 

TERMS  OF  THE  SEAL-ISLAND  LEASE  FROM  THE  GOVERNMENT. — This  indenture  in  duplicate,  made  this  3d  day  of  August,  A.  D.  1870, 
by  and  between  William  A.  Bichardson,  Acting  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  pursuance  of  au  act  of  Congress  approved  July  1,  1870,  entitled 
"An  act  to  prevent  the  extermination  of  fur-bearing  animals  in  Alaska,"  and  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  a  corporation  duly 
established  under  the  laws  of  the  state  of  California,  acting  by  John  F.  Miller,  its  president  and  agent,  in  accordance  with  a  resolution  at 
a  meeting  of  its  board  of  trustees,  held  January  31,  1870,  witnesseth: 

That  said  secretary  hereby  leases  to  the  said  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  without  power  of  transfer,  for  the  term  of  twenty  years 
from  the  1st'  day  of  May,  1870,  the  right  to  engage  in  the  business  of  taking  fur-seals  on  the  islands  of  St.  George  and  St.  Paul  within 
the  territory  of  Alaska,  and  to  send  a  vessel  or  vessels  to  said  island  for  the  skins  of  such  seals. 

And  the  said  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  in  consideration  of  their  right  under  this  lease,  hereby  covenant  and  agree  to  pay,  for 
each  year  during  said  term  and  in  proportion  during  any  part  thereof,  the  sum  of  $55,000  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  in 
accordance  with  the  regulations  of  the  secretary  to  be  made  for  this  purpose  under  said  act,  which  payment  shall  be  secured  by  deposit 
of  United  States  bonds  to  that  amount,  and  also  covenant  and  agree  to  pay  annually  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  under  said 
rules  and  regulations,  an  internal-revenue  tax  or  duty  of  $2  for  each  seal-skin  taken  and  shipped  by  them  in  accordance  with  the  provisions 
of  the  act  aforesaid,  and  also  the  sum  of  60^  cents  for  each  fur-seal  skin  taken  and  shipped,  and  55  cents  per  gallon  for  each  gallon  of  oil 
obtained  from  said  seals,  for  sale  in  said  islands  or  elsewhere,  and  sold  by  said  company ;  and  also  covenant  and  agree,  in  accordance  with 
said  rules  and  regulations,  to  furnish,  free  of  charge,  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  annually  during  said  term 
25,000  dried  salmon,  60  cords  fire-wood,  and  a  sufficient  quantity  of  salt  and  a  sufficient  quantity  of  barrels  for  preserving  the  necessary 
supply  of  meat. 

And  the  said  lessees  also  hereby  covenant  and  agree  during  the  term  aforesaid  to  maintain  a  school  on  each  island,  in  accordance  with 
said  rules  and  regulations  and  suitable  for  the  education  of  the  natives  of  said  islands,  for  a  period  of  not  less  than  eight  mouths  in  each  year. 

And  the  said  lessees  further  covenant  and  agree  not  kill  upon  said  island  of  St.  Paul  more  than  seventy-five  thousand  fur-seals, 
and  upon  the  island  of  St.  George  not  more  than  twenty-five  thousand  fur-seals  per  annum;  not  to  kill  any  fur-seal  upon  the'islands 
aforesaid  in  any  other  month  except  the  months  of  June,  July,  September,  and  October  of  each  year ;  not  to  kill  said  seals  at  any  time  by 
the  use  of  fire-arms  or  means  tending  to  drive  said  seals  from  said  islands ;  not  to  kill  any  female  seals  or  seals  under  one  year  old ;  not  to 
kill  any  seal  in  waters  adjacent  to  said  islands,  or  on  the  beach,  cliffs,  or  rocks,  where  they  haul  up  from  the  sea  to  remain. 

And  thesaid  lessees  further  covenant  and  agree  to  abide  by  any  restriction  or  limitation  upon  the  right  to  kill  seals  under  this  lease 
that  the  act  prescribes,  or  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  judge  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  such  seals. 

And  the  said  lessees  hereby  agree  that  they  will'not  in  any  way  sell,  transfer,  or  assign  this  lease,  and  that  any  transfer,  sale,  or 
assignment  of  the  same  shall  be  void  and  of  no  effect. 

And  the  said  lessees  further  agree  to  furnish  to  the  several  masters  of  the  vessels  employed  by  them  certified  copies  of  this  lease,  to 
be  presented  to  the  government  revenue  officers  for  the  time  being  in  charge  of  said  islands,  as  the  authority  of  said  lessees  for  the  landing 
and  taking  of  said  skins. 

And  the  said  lessees  further  covenant  and  agree  that  they  or  their  agents  shall  not  keep,  sell,  furnish,  give,  or  dispose  of  any  distilled 
spirituous  liquors  on  either  of  said  islands  to  any  of  the  natives  thereof,  such  person  not  being  a  physician  and  furnishing  the  same  for  use 
as  medicine. 

And  the  said  lessees  further  covenant  and  agree  that  this  lease  is  accepted,  subject  to  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  which  shall 
at  any  time  or  times  hereafter  bo  made  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  the  collection  and  payment  of  tho  rental  herein  agreed  to  be 
paid  by  said  lessees  for  the  comfort,  maintenance,  education,  and  protection  of  the  natives  of  said  islands,  and  for  carrying  into  effect  all 
the  provisions  of  the  act  aforesaid,  and  will  abide  by  and  conform  to  said  rules  and  regulations. 

And  the  said  lessees,  accepting  this  lease  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  provisions  of  the  aforesaid  act  of  Congress,  farther  covenant 
and  agree  that  they  will  fullfil  all  the  provisions,  requirements,  and  limitations  of  said  act,  whether  herein  specifically  set  out  or  not. 

In  witness  whereof  the  parties  aforesaid  have  hereunto  sot  their  hands  and  seals  the  day  and  year  above  written. 

WILLIAM  A.  RICHARDSON,     [SKAL.] 
Actiny  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Executed  in  presence  of — 
J.  H.  SAVILLE. 

ALASKA  COMMERCIAL  COMPANY, 
By  JOHN  F.  M1LLKR,  President.  [SEAL.] 


Plate  XXVI 


Monograph— SEAL-ISLANDS, 


A  FUR-SEAL,  as  drawn  by  C.  Landseer,  1848. 

'O.  nigra— Black  Otary."    [Encyelo.  Metropolitana,  London,  1848,  Fig.  2,  pi.  ix,  p.  1O9  ] 

[Evidently  drawn  from  an  alcoholic  or  air-ilriecl  specimen  of  an  A  rctocephalus  pup,  in  its  black  natal  coat. — H.  W.  E.] 


THE    FUR-SEAL. 

(Callorhinus  ursinus.) 

[Fac-simile  of  a  figure  engraved  on  steel  from  a  drawing  by  Sidney  Edwards  based  upon  Steller's  description,  published  as  "  Phoca  uraina  "  in  the 
Book  of  Nature,  vol.  i,  pi.  53,  Phila.,  1834.  This  is,  in  its  aggregate,  one  of  the  best  figures  of  the  Fur-seal  given  to  the  world  prior  to  HIV  life-studies  on 
the  Pribylov  Islands,  1872-70,  inclusive.— H.  W.  E.] 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA  109 

21.— EPITOME   OF  SPECIAL   EEPORTS   UPON  THE   SEAL-ISLANDS   IN  THE  ARCHIVES  OF  THE 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT. 

THE  OFFICIAL  FILES  OF  THE  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT. — The  first  direct  reports  received  by  the  government 
from  its  agents  were  those  of  Charles  Bryant  and  H.  H.  Mclntyre,  each  dated  November  30,  1869,  and  addressed 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  they  were  published  by  order  of  Congress  January  26,  1870.  (See  Ex.  Doc.  No. 
32,  41st  Congress,  2d  session.)  The  references  made  to  the  seal-life  in  these  documents  are  very  brief  and  general. 

On  the  30th  December,  1870,  the  next  communication  from  the  seal-islands  touching  the  condition  of  the 
animals,  etc.,  was  received  by  the  Treasury  Department  from  its  agent,  Mr.  S.  N.  Biiynitsky;  it  is  a  very  brief 
review  of  the  whole  state  of  affairs.  (See  Ex.  Doc.  No.  83,  44th  Congress,  1st  session,  pp.  41  and  44  inclusive.) 
This  is  followed  on  November  10,  1871,  by  another  report  upon  the  same  subject  by  Charles  Bryant,  still  brief  and 
general.  (Ex.  Doc.  No.  83,  44th  Congress,  1st  session,  pp.  59  and  60  inclusive.)  It  is  a  mere  synopsis  of  the 
success  of  the  sealing  season,  and  is  followed  by  another  routine  report  by  the  same  author,  dated  August  15,  1872, 
of  the  same  vague  and  general  tenor. 

A  series  of  brief  annual  reports  of  this  character  by  the  agents  of  the  Treasury  Department  have  been  annually 
received  by  the  government  from  Messrs.  Bryant,  Morton,  and  Otis,  respectively,  up  to  date,  being  all  restricted  to 
short  business  recapitulations  of  the  season's  work  in  sealing,  condition  of  the  natives,  etc.;  they  are  supplemented 
and  illustrated  by  the  reports  made  by  the  assistant  special  agents  of  the  Treasury  Department,  who  address  their 
communications  to  the  treasury  agent  in  charge,  or  chief  special  officer  of  the  government. 

The  last  two  annual  reports  of  Colonel  Otis,  special  agent  Treasury  Department,  are  elaborated  in  regard  to 
the  details  of  sealing-labor  and  figure's  of  the  progress  of  the  work  itself.  He  gives  no  special  attention  to  the  life 
and  habits  of  the  fur-seal  in  his  communication  to  the  Secretary. 


I.  ILLUSTRATIVE  AND  SUPPLEMENTAL  NOTES. 

22.  THE  RUSSIAN  SEAL-ISLANDS,  BERING  AND  COPPER,  OR  THE  COMMANDER  GROUP. 

EXTRACTED  FBOM  PROFESSOR  XORDEXSKIOLD'S  REPORT  ix  REFERENCE  TO  BERIXG  ISLAXD. 

[Translated  by  Capt.  G.  Niebaum.] 

ARRIVAL  OF  NORDENSKIOLD  :  LOCATION  OF  BERING  ISLAND. — The  Vega  anchored  on  the  14th  August,  1879, 
in  a  rather  poor,  open  harbor  on  the  northwest  coast  of  the  island.  Bering  island  is  the  most  westerly  of  the 
Aleutian  islands,  and  is  situated  nearest  Kamtchatka;  it  does  not  belong,  nor  does  the  neighboring  Copper  island, 
to  America,  but  to  Asia,  and  is  controlled  by  Russia;  nevertheless,  the  American  Alaska  Company  have  obtained 
the  hunting  privilege,  and  maintain  here  a  not  inconsiderable  trading  station,  which  consists  of  about  300 
inhabitants,  supplying  them  with  provisions  and  manufactured  goods,  and  from  them  in  turn  receiving  their  labor, 
principally  rendered  in  taking  skins  of  the  eared-seal,  or  sea-bear  (Otaria  ursina);  between  40,000  and  100,000*  of 

*  These  figures  are  in  error ;  the  table  given  at  the  close  of  this  translation  will  show  it.  It  is  well  known  that  the  fur-seal,  as  it  bred, 
was  first  seen  and  desciibed  by  Steller,  who  wrote  his  description  on  this  islaud,  when  shipwrecked  there  with  Bering,  in  l741-'42. 
Steller's  account  and  the  stories  of  the  survivors  drew  a  large  concourse  of  rapacious  hunters  to  the  Commander  islands ;  they  appear,  as 
near  as  I  can  arrive  at  truths,  from  the  scanty  record,  to  have  quickly  exterminated  the  sea-otters,  and  to  have  killed  mauy  and  harrassed 
the  other  fur-seals  entirely  away  from  the  island ;  so  that  there  was  an  interregnum  between  1760  and  1786,  during  which  time  the  Russian 
prouiyshleniks  took  no  fur-seals,  and  were  utterly  at  loss  to  know  whither  these  creatures  had  fled  from  the  islands  of  Bering  and  Copper. 
When  they  (the  seals)  began  to  revisit  their  haunts  on  the  Commander  islands,  I  can  find  no  specific  date ;  but  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  they  did  not  reappear  on  Bering  and  Copper  islands  to  anything  like  the  number  seen  by  Steller,  until  1837-'38;  perhaps  have  not 
done  so  until  quite  recently.  At  least,  in  1667,  the  Russians  did  not  think  more  than  20,000  skins  could  be  secured  there  annually,  while 
they  declared  100,000  could  be  taken  readily  at  the  Pribylovs;  again,  since  1867  the  capacity  of  the  Commander  group  has  gradually 
increased  from  15,000  to  20,000,  then  to  40,000  and  50,000  "  holluschickie  "  per  annum.  Now,  this  striking  improvement  is  due,  doubtless,  to 
the  superior  treatment  of  the  whole  business  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  which  had  also  leased  these  interests  from  the  Russian 
government  in  1871  for  a  term  of  20  years.  1  think,  therefore,  that  when  the  fur-seals  on  the  Commander  islands  became  so  ruthlessly 
hunted  and  harrassed  shortly  after  Steller's  observations  in  1742,  then  they  soon  repaired,  or  rather  most  of  the  survivors  did,  to  the 
shelter  and  isolation  of  the  Pribylov  group,  which  was  wholly  unknown  to  man ;  and  it  remained  so  until  1786-'87.  Then  succeeded  a 
period  between,  up  to  1642-'4o,  when  the  unhappy  seals  had  but  little  rest  or  choice  between  the  Commander  and  the  Pribylov  islands, 
and  must  have  sadly  diminished,  as  the  record  shows,  in  numbers. 

The  unfortunate  overland  journey  of  Steller,  which  alternately  starved  and  froze  him  into  a  low  fever  that  ended  his  yonng  and 
promising  life  in  a  yourt  on  the  Siberian  steppes,  November  12,  1745,  six  years  prior  to  the  first  publication  of  his  celebrated  notes  on  the 


110  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

these  animals  are  killed  yearly  on  this  and  the  neighboring  Copper  island ;  those  are  the  animals  from  which  is 
obtained  the  brown,  silky,  soft  seal-skin,  which  of  late  has  become  so  fashionable.  In  order  to  watch  over  the 
interest  of  the  Russian  government  and  to  maintain  order,  there  are  also  a  few  Eussian  officers  stationed  here. 

SKETCH  OP  THE  VILLAGE. — A  half  dozen  convenient  wooden  houses  are  here  erected,  used  for  warehouses  and 
stores,  also  for  the  use  of  servants  of  the  Russian  government  and  of  the  company.  The  natives  live  partly  in 
adobe  houses,  quite  roomy  and  not  unpleasant  inside;  partly  in  small  wooden  houses  which  the  company  are 
gradually  endeavoring  to  introduce,  instead  of  turf  houses,  by  yearly  importing  and  giving  away  a  few  such  houses 
to  the  most  deserving  ones  of  the  inhabitants.  A  church  for  Greek-Catholic  service  is  also  there,  and  a  roomy  school- 
house  intended  for  children  of  the  Aleutians.  Unfortunately,  the  school  was  now  closed,  but  to  judge  from  the 
copy-books  which  were  lying  around  in  the  school-room,  the  teaching  here  is  not  to  be  despised.  At  least  the  writing 
proofs  were  conspicuous  for  their  cleanliness,  absence  of  school  blots,  and  an  exceedingly  even  and  beautiful 
handwriting.  At  the  "colony"  the  houses  are  collected  in  one  place  in  a  village,  which,  from  the  sea,  has  the 
appearance  somewhat  of  a  small  Norwegian  fisherman  village.  Beside  these,  a  few  scattered  houses  are  to  be  found 
here  and  there  on  other  parts  of  the  island,  as,  for  instance,  on  the  northeast  side,  where  cultivation  of  potatoes  is 
carried  on  on  a  small  scale,  at  the  hunting- place  on  the  north  side,  where  a  couple  of  large  warehouses  and  a  number 
of  very  small  underground  houses  are  to  be  found,  and  are  used  only  during  the  killing-season. 

DISCOVERY  OP  THE  ISLAND. — Geographically,  as  well  as  in  regard  to  natural  history,  Bering. island  is  one  of 
the  most  curious  islands  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Pacific  ocean.  It  was  here  where  Bering,  after  his  last 
disastrous  voyage  in  this  sea,  which  now  bears  his  name,  on  the  19th  of  December,  1741,  finished  his  long  career  as  a 
discoverer,  shortly  after  his  ship,  during  a  storm,  crushed  against  the  cliffs  on  the  north  coast  of  the  island.  Many 
of  his  fellow-travelers  survived  him,  among  them  the  learned  naturalist  Steller,  who  left  a  masterly  description, 
seldom,  equaled,  of  the  natural  history  of  this  island,  where  he  involuntarily  spent  his  time  from  the  middle  of 
November,  1741,  to  the  end  of  August,  1742. 

As  far  as  is  known,  Bering  island  had  never  before  been  visited  by  man.  It  was  the  desire  to  obtain  for  our 
museums  the  skins  and  skeletons  of  the  many  curious  marniniferous  animals  existing  here,  as  also  to  compare  the 
present  condition  of  the  island,  since  it  has  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  been  mercilessly  exposed  to  hunting  and  the 
cupidity  of  mankind,  with  the  vivacious  and  striking  description  left  by  Steller,  which  prompted  me  to  put  down 
on  our  traveling  plan  a  visit  to  the  island.  The  news  I  gathered  on  Bering  island  from  American  papers,  about  the 
uneasiness  which  our  wintering  in  the  Arctic  had  created  in  Europe,  really  prevented  me  from  remaining  here  as 
long  as  I  should  have  wished;  but,  nevertheless,  our  collections  and  observations  are  exceedingly  valuable. 

CHANGES  SINCE  STELLEB'S  TIME. — Since  the  time  of  Steller,  the  animal  life  has  undergone  a  considerable 
change  on  the  island.  Foxes  (or,  more  correctly,  "fjellrackor",  Swedish)  existed  then  in  unusual  numbers.  Not 
alone  did  they  eat  up  everything  that  could  be  eaten  at  all  which  was  left  outside,  but  they  forced  themselves  in  the 
houses  during  the  day  as  well  as  night,  and  carried  away  anything  they  could,  even  articles  that  could  be  of  no 
use  to  them,  such  as  knives,  sticks,  sacks,  shoes,  and  socks.  It  became  necessary,  when  doing  certain  things  out  of 
doors,  to  drive  them  away  with  sticks,  and  at  last  they  became — through  the  slyness  and  cunning  with  which  they 
managed  to  consummate  their  thieving,  and  the  cleverness  with  which  they  combined  their  efforts  to  attain  objects 
.which  they-  alone  could  not  accomplish — really  dangerous,  mischief-making  animals  for  the  castaways.  Since  then 
thousands  upon  thousands  have  been  taken  here  by  fur-hunters.  Now  they  are  so  rare  that  duiiug  our  stay  here 
we  did  not  see  a  single  animal.  The  remaining  ones  are  said  not  to  have  the  formerly  so  commonly-seen  black- 
blue  coat,  but  the  white,  which  is  not  very  costly.  On  the  neighboring  Copper  island  there  are  still  considerable 
numbers  of  black  blue  foxes. 

Steller  and  his  fellow-travelers  killed  here  in  1741-'42,  seven  hundred  sea-otters.  This  animal,  known  for  its 
very  costly  and  fine  fur,  is  now  entirely  driven  from  Bering  island. 

Of  sea-lions,  Otaria  Stelleri,  which  were  formerly  very  numerous,  but  few  now  visit  this  place;  also  sea-bears, 
Otaria  ursina,  and  finally,  the  most  curious  of  all  the  former  mammalia  on  Bering  island,  the  great  sea-cow,  is 
now  altogether  extinct. 

MARINE  "NEAT  CATTLE". — Steller's  sea-cow,  Bhytina  Stelleri,  took  the  place,  in  a  certain  way,  of  the  hoofed 
animal  among  the  sea-mammalia.  It  was  of  a  nut-brown  color  and  covered  with  hair  which  had  grown  together 
into  an  outer  hide,  much  like  the  bark  of  an  old  oak  tree.  Its  length  was,  according  to  Steller,  even  to  35  feet,  and 
its  weight  almost  five  hundred  hundred  weight.  The  head  was  large,  neck  short,  hardly  distinguishable,  forepart 
of  body  very  thick,  but  suddenly  narrowing  backward.  It  had  two  short  fore-legs,  which  terminated  abruptly 
without  any  fingers  or  nails,  but  with  close-gathered  bristle  hair;  hind-legs  were  missing  altogether  and  replaced  by 
a  tail-fin,  something  like  the  whale.  Teats,  which  were  very  rich  in  milk  with  the  females,  had  their  places  between 
the  forelegs.  The  flesh  and  milk  resembled  very  much  that  of  neat-cattle ;  it  was  even  better  than  the  latter, 
according  to  Steller. 

"  8c;i-bcars"  of  Bering  island,  often  occurs  sadly  to  my  mind  in  this  connection  ;  for,  undoubtedly,  had  he  lived  then  to  have  reached  St. 
Petersburg,  whither  he  was  bonnd,  he  would  have  enlarged  and  polished  these  items,  which  now  appear  in  the  Proceedings  of  tJie 
Imperial  Academy,  1751,  just  as  he  had  roughly  drafted  them  in  the  field,  May  and  June,  1742.  This  revision  of  his  field  jottings  would 
have  undoubtedly  supplied  many  links  now  missing  to  the  disconnected  history  of  the  seal-life  on  the  Commander  islands,  as  it  presents 
itsel/to  us  at  this  late  day.— H.  W.  E. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  Ill 

The  sea-cows  were  almost  constantly  occupied  in  feeding  on  those  sea-weeds  found  in  abundance  along  the  coast, 
in  doing  which  they  moved  neck  and  head  as  an  ox.  They  showed  great  gluttony,  and  were  not  disturbed  in  the 
least  by  the  presence  of  people.  It  was  possible  to  go  up  to  and  even  to  touch  them  without  their  being  scared  or 
seeming  to  mind  it.  Toward  each  other  they  showed  great  affection,  and  when  one  was  harpooned  the  others 
made  unusual  efforts  to  save  it. 

When  Steller  was  there  these  animals  collected  in  great  herds  as  neat-cattle,  grazing  everywhere  along  the 
shores.  A  great  number  were  killed  by  Steller  and  his  companions.  Later  the  hunt  for  these  animals  was  an 
important  food-item  for  those  Eussians  who  sailed  from  Kaintchatka  to  the  Aleutian  islands.  Hundreds  were  killed 
yearly,  and  it  was  soon  exterminated,  as  it  existed,  if  we  except  a  few  animals  gone  astray,  at  that  time  only  on 
Bering  island.  According  to  what  Middeudorf  quotes  from  the  very  careful  researches  which  the  celebrated 
academicians  v.  Baer  and  v.  Brandt  had  made,  the  sea-cow  had  not  been  seen  before  Steller's  time,  1741,  and  the  last 
was  said  to  have  been  killed  in  1768.  During  the  many  investigations  I  made  among  the  natives,  I  obtained  reliable 
information  that  the  sea-cow  had  been  killed  much  later.  A  "creole"  (».  e.,  a  mixture  of  Kussian  and  Aleut),  who 
is  now  sixty -seven  years  old,  of  clever  appearance  and  perfect  mental  condition,  said  that  his  father  died  in  1847, 
aged  eighty-eight.  The  father  was  from  Wolhynien,  and  came  to  Bering  island  when  eighteen  years  of  age,  that 
is,  in  1777.  The  first  two  or  three  years  (that  is,  1779  or  1780)  after  his  arrival,  they  used  to  kill  sea-cows  as  they 
grazed  at  low-water  mark.  Only  the  heart  was  eaten;  the  hide  was  used  for  badarrahs.  In  consequence  of  its 
thickness  it  was  split  in  two  parts.  Two  such  split  hides  were  sufficient  to  cover  a  badarrah  of  20  feet  length,  7J 
feet  width,  and  3  feet  depth.  After  that  time  none  of  these  animals  had  been  killed. 

LAST  SIGHT  OP  SEA-COW  HERE. — It  is  surmised  that  a  sea  cow  had  shown  itself  much  later  around  the  island. 
Two  "creoles",  Teodor  Merchenin  and  Stepnoff,  saw,  about  twenty  -five  years  ago,  at  Tolstoi  Mees,  on  the  east  of 
the  island,  an  animal  which  they  did  not  know;  it  was  very  thick  forward  and  tapered  backward,  had  small  fore- 
feet, and  showed  itself  about  15  feet  above  the  water,  rising  and  again  sinking.  It  blew,  not  through  a  blow-hole, 
but  through  its  mouth,  which  was  somewhat  elongated.  Its  color  was  brown,  with  large  light  spots.  It  had  no 
fin  on  the  back,  but  when  it  raised  itself  it  was  possible  to  see  the  vertebrae  lumps,  in  consequence  of  its  very  lean 
condition.  I  made  a  very  thorough  examination  of  the  two  tales-men.  Their  story  agreed  fully,  and  appeared  as 
if  entitled  to  be  given  credence. 

One  of  the  Alaska  company's  hide-examiners,  Mr.  Ohsche,  a  native  ?f  Lifland  and  for  the  present  living  on 
Copper  island,  told  me  that  bones  of  the  sea-cow  could  be  found  on  the  west  side  of  Copper  island,  in  the  center. 
Again,  it  is  said  that  no  bones  exist  on  the  little  islet,  opposite  the  colony,  although  bones  are  plenty  on  the 
neighboring  beach  on  the  main  island.  This  is  the  meager  information  I  could  gather  from  the  natives  and  other 
people  residing  here  about  the  animal.  But  I  was  very  fortunate  in  being  able  to  collect  a  very  large  and  beautiful 
assortment  of  skeleton  parts. 

^XORDENSKIOLD'S  SUCCESS  IN  GETTING  ITS  BONES. — "When  I  first  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Europeans 
living  on  the  island,  I  was  told  that  there  was  a  very  poor  show  for  making  any  large  collections.  The  company 
had  in  vain  offered  150  rubles  for  a  skeleton.  But  after  I  had  been  ashore  a  few  hours  I  already  found  out  that 
larger  and  smaller  collections  of  bones  were  to  be  found  here  and  there  in  the  huts  of  the  natives.  Those  I 
bought,  paying  purposely  for  them  in  such  a  way  that  the  seller  was  more  than  satisfied,  and  his  neighbor  a  little 
envions.  A  large  portion  of  the  male  population  now  commenced  very  zealously  to  hunt  for  bones,  and  in  this 
manner  I  got  together  twenty-one  casks,  large  boxes,  and  barrels  full  of  Khytina  bones,  among  them  many  very 
extensive  bone-collections  from  the  same  animal,  two  whole,  very  pretty,  and  several  more  or  less  damaged  skulls,  etc. 

BOXES  OF  THE  EXTINCT  SEA-COW  OF  STELLER. — Rhytina  bones  are  not  lying  near  the  water-edge,  but  on  a 
beach  shelf,  6  to  10  feet  high,  thickly  covered  with  grass.  They  are  usually  covered  with  a  layer  of  earth  debris  of 
1  to  1£  feet  thickness,  and  in  order  to  find  them  we  had  to  explore  the  ground  with  a  bayonet  or  a  sharp  iron,  as  it 
would  have  been  too  laborious  to  dig  up  the  whole  grass  layer.  A  person  very  soon  gets  accustomed  to  distinguish, 
by  the  sound  or  the  feeling  of  the  bayonet,  whether  he  has  struck  against  a  stone,  a  piece  of  wood,  or  a  piece  of 
bone. 

In  consequence  of  their  hard  ivory -like  condition,  the  Rhytina  bones  are  nsed  by  the  natives  for  sleigh  runners 
and  for  carvings.  They  are,  therefore,  already  to  a  great  extent  used  up  and  rarer  than  other  bones.  The  bones 
from  the  finger  seem  in  most  cases  to  be  entirely  destroyed,  and  the  same  is  the  case  with  the  extreme  tail-parts. 

FUR-SEALS  ON  BERING  ISLAND. — The  only  large  animal  which  still  exists  on  the  island,  in  perhaps  as  large 
numbers  as  at  the  time  of  Steller,  is  the  sea-bear,  Otaria  urshia.  Even  that  had  decreased  so  that  the  yearly  catch 
was  a  very  inconsiderable  one,  when  the  Alaska  Company  obtained  the  exclusive  privilege  for  hunting,  by  a 
payment  to  the  Russian  government  of,  if  I  remember  right,  two  rubles  for  each  animal  killed.  The  hunting  was 
then  organized  on  a  more  advantageous  basis.  At  certain  periods  of  the  year  the  animals  are  now  altogether 
unmolested.  The  number  of  animals  to  be  killed  is  settled  beforehand,  just  the  same  as  the  farmer  in  the  fall  of  the 
year  (slaughtering-time,  Swedish  custom)  is  in  the  habit  of  doing  with  his  cattle.  After  that  is  done,  the  animals 
condemned  to  death  are  selected  as  well  as  can  be  done  in  a  hurry,  but  animals  with  poor  skin,  old  females  and  pups, 
are  liberated.  Those  numerous  flocks  of  sea-bears,  which  are  found  on  the  shores  of  Bering  and  Copper  islands,  are 
consequently  handled  nearly  the  same  as  a  herd  of  tame  animals.  This  can  only  be  done  in  that  manner,  because 


112  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  animals  are  iu  the  habit  of  spending  several  months  of  the  year,  almost  without  interruption*  and  without 
eating  any  food,  on  certain  long,  rocky  spits  running  out  into  the  sea  from  those  islands.  They  congregate  here  in 
hundreds  of  thousands,  in  closely  packed  flocks  on  the  beach.  On  those  places  it  is  strictly  prohibited  to  hunt  the 
animal  or  to  disturb  it  during  its  rest,  without  special  permission  from  the  village  foreman,  who  is  selected  by  the 
Aleuts  living  in  the  place.  When  a  number  of  sea-bears  are  to  be  killed,  a  flock  is  surrounded  by  a  sufficient  number 
of  hunters  and  are  driven  with  sticks  up  on  the  grass  a  short  distance  from  the  beach.  Then  females  and  young 
ones,  and  those  males  whose  fur-coat  is  not  desirable,  are  driven  away.  The  remaining  ones  are  stunned  first  with 
a  blow  on  the  nose,  and  then  stabbed  with  a  knife. 

INSPECTION  OF  A  ROOKERY. — Accompanied,  by  the  village  foreman,  a  black  haired  stuttering  Aleut,  and  the 
"Cossac",  a  young,  neat,  and  polite  man,  who  on  special  occasions  carries  a  saber  of  nearly  his  own  length,  but 
who  otherwise  not  in  the  least  answered  Jto  the  Cossac  type  accepted  by  writers  of  novels  and  dramas,  a  few  of  us 
visited  a  spit  sticking  out  iu  the  sea  from  the  north  side  of  the  island,  which  is  a  favorite  resting-place  for  sea  bears. 
Just  at  that  time  (here  were,  in  accordance  with  surely  overestimated  statements  which  we  received,  200,000  animals 
congregated  at  the  spit  and  neighboring  beaches.  Accompanied  by  our  guides  we  received  permission  to  crawl 
close  on  to  a  flock  lying  a  little  separate.  The  older  animals  were  a  little  uneasy  at  first,  when  they  noticed  that  we 
crawled  near  them,  but  they  very  soon  settled  down  again,  and  we  now  had  the  pleasure  of  a  peculiar  spectacle. 
We  were  the  only  spectators.  The  scene  consisted  of  a  stone-covered  beach  wreathed  with  foaming  breakers,  the 
background  of  the  unmeasurable  sea,  and  the  actors  thousands  of  curiously-formed  animals. 

A  number  of  old  males  were  lying  still  and  immovable,  unconcerned  about  what  went  on  around  them.  Others 
crawled  on  their  short,  small  legs  clumsily  among  the  rocks  on  the  beach,  or  swam  with  incredible  suppleness  among 
the  breakers,  playing,  cooing  with  each  other,  and  quarreling.  In  one  place  two  older  animals  fought  with  a 
peculiar  wheezing  noise,  in  a  manner  as  if  the  fighting  had  taken  place  with  studied  positions  for  attack  and 
defense.  In  another,  a  sham  fight  between  an  old  animal  and  a  pup.  It  appeared  as  if  that  one  was  receiving 
lessons  in  the  art  of  fencing.  Everywhere  the  little  black  pups  were  crawling  friskily  to  and  fro  between  the 
others,  now  and  then  bleating  like  lambs  calling  their  mothers.  Often  the  pups  are  crushed  by  the  old,  when 
scared  by  some  untoward  circumstance  they  rush  out  in  the  sea.  Hundreds  of  dead  pups  are  found  after  such  an 
alarm  on  the  beach. 

"Only"  13,000  animals  had  been  killed  this  year.  Their  skinned  carcasses  were  lying  heaped  in  the  grass  on 
the  beach,  spreading  a  disagreeable  smell  far  and  wide,  which  after  all  did  not  scare  the  comrades  lying  on 
neighboring  points,  because  among  them  a  similar  smell  prevailed  on  account  of  the  many  dead  animals  remaining 
on  the  beach,  either  crushed  or  dead  from  natural  causes.  Among  this  large  herd  of  sea-bears  a  single  sea-lion 
was  enthroned  on  top  of  a  high  rock,  the  only  one  of  those  animals  which  we  had  seen  during  our  travel. 

Against  payment  of  40  rubles  I  prevailed  on  the  village  .chief  to  prepare  for  me  four  skeletons  of  those  half 
rotten  carcasses  lying  in  the  grass,  and  afterward  I  received,  through  the  kindness  of  the  Russian  authorities  and 
without  any  compensation,  for  stuffing,  six  animals,  among  them  two  live  pups.  Even  those  we  had  to  kill,  after 
in  vain  having  tried  to  make  them  take  food.  One  of  them  will  be  brought  home,  in  alcohol,  for  anatomical 
investigation. 

CHARACTER  OF  BERING  ISLAND. — That  part  of  Bering  island  which  we  saw  is  composed  of  a  plateau  resting 
on  volcanic  inountains,t  which  in  many  places  is  broken  by  deep  callous.  In  their  bottoms  are  usually  found  lakes, 
which  through  smaller  or  larger  streams  connect  with  the  sea. 

The  border  of  the  lakes  and  the  mountain  slopes  are  covered  with  a  rich  vegetation  of  long  grass  and  beautiful 
flowers,  among  which  a  sword  lily,  that  is  cultivated  in  our  gardens,  the  useful  dark-red  brown  Savannah  lily, 
several  orchids,  two  kinds  of  rhododendrons,  large  flowers,  umbellifers  the  height  of  a  man,  sunflowers  like 
synanthaus,  etc. 

An  entirely  different  kind  of  flora  prevailed  on  the  islet  which  lies  outside  the  harbor. 

Toporkoff  islet  consists  of  an  eruptive  rock,  which  everywhere  toward  the  shores,  a  few  score  yards  from  high- 
water  mark,  rises  up  in  the  form  of  abrupt,  low,  cracked  walls  from  5  to  10  meters  in  height,  differing  iu  different 
places.  Above  those  abrupt  mountain  walls  the  surface  of  the  island  is  formed  of  an  even  plane ;  what  lies  below, 
forms  a  gradually  sloping  beach. 

The  gradually  sloping  beach  consists  of  two  well-defined  belts,  an  outer  one  without  any  vegetation,  an  inner 
one  overgrown  with  Ammadenia  peploides,  Elymus  mollis,  and  two  kinds  of  umbellates,  Heracleum  siMricum  and 
Angelica  archangclica,  of  which  the  two  last  named  form  an  almost  impenetrable  brush,  about  50  meters  wide, 
man  high,  along  the  shelf. 

The  abrupt  mouutain  walls  are  in  some  places  yellow-colored  from  the  Caloplacmus  murorum  and  C.  cremulata, 
in  other  places  quite  closely  clothed  with  Cochlearia  fenestrata. 

*  During  a  long  continued  heavy  rain  many  of  (lie  animals  are  said  to  seek  shelter  in  the  sea,  but  return  as  soon  as  the  rain  ceases. 

t  According  to  Mr.  Greboritsky,  tertiary  petrifactions  and  seams  of  coal  are  found  on  Bering,  the  former  north  of  the  colony  in  the 
interior  of  the  island,  the  latter  at  the  water's  edge  south  of  Bering's  grave.  Also,  near  the  colony,  the  underlayer  below  trachyte  beds  is 
composed  of  immense  sand  layers. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


113 


The  uppermost  even  plateau  is  covered  by  a  luxuriant  close  grass-carpet,  over  which  a  few  stalks  of  the  two 
above-named  uuibellates  raise  themselves  here  and  there. 

Vegetation  on  this  little  islet  combines  an  unusual  poverty  of  various  species  with  a  high  degree  of  luxuriance. 

Of  higher  order  of  animals  we  saw  only  four  species  of  birds,  namely,  Fratercula  cirrhata,  Uria  grylle,  one  species 
of  Phalacrocora.r  (Swedish  skafvar),  and  one  kind  of  the  gull  (Larus)  species,  which  live  here  by  the  millions.  They 
occupied  the  upper  plateau,  where  they  had  everywhere  dug  out  short,  deep,  and  unusually  broad  passages,  with  two 
openings,  in  wbich  they  slept.  From  there  they  flew,  on  our  arrival,  in  large  flocks  to  and  from  the  sea.  Their 
numbers  weie  almost  comparable  with  the  auks  on  the  Arctic  bird  clift's.  The  other  ducks  nestled  along  the  shore 
cliffs. 

The  number  of  the  non-vertebrate  land-animals  foots  up  perhaps  to  thirty  species.  The  most  numerous  are 
Maehelis,  Vitrina.  Lithobias,  Talitrus,  a  few  two-winged  beetles  (bugs).  They  all  lived  on  the  inner  belt  of  the 
shore,  where  the  ground  is  unusually  damp. 

MUCH  MILDER  CLIMATE  THAN  THAT  OF  THE  PRiBYLOV  GROUP. — Bering  island  could,  without  difficulty, 
feed  large  herds  of  cattle,  i>erhaps  as  numerous  as  the  herds  of  sea-cows  which  formerly  grazed  along  its  shores. 
The  sea-cow  had,  as  it  were,  chosen  its  grazing  place  with  discrimination,  because  the  sea  about  here,  according  to 
Dr.  Kjelman.  is  one  of  the  richest  kelp  places  in  the  world.  The  bottom  of  the  sea  is  covered,  in  favorable  places, 
with  kelp  forests,  from  G'0  to  100  feet  high,  which  are  so  dense  that  the  scraper  with  difficulty  penetrates  down  in 
them,  a  circumstance  which  made  the  dredging  exceedingly  difficult.  Certain  kind  of  kelp  is  used  by  the  inhabitants 
for  food. 

SALMON*  ON  THE  ISLAND. — That  spit,  where  the  sea-bears  have  their  rookeries,  is  about  20  kilometers  distant 
from  the  village.  We  went  there  each  on  his  sleigh  drawn  by  about  ten  dogs.  During  this  trip,  at  a  resting-place 
half-way  between  the  village  and  the  rookeries,  we  had  occasion  to  take  part  in  a  very  peculiar  fishing.  Our  haltiug- 
place  was  on  an  even  grass  meadow,  cut  through  by  innumerable  brooks.  Those  were  full  of  various  kinds  of  fishes, 
among  them  a  kind  of  siik  (gwiniad,  Swedish),  a  small  trout  (forell),  a  medium-sized  salmon,  with  almost  white  meat, 
but  with  purple-red  skin,  and  another  of  about  the  same  length,  but  very  broad  and  with  a  hump  on  the  back. 
These  were  easily  taken.  They  were  taken  by  hand,  harpooned  with  an  ordinary  blunt  stick  or  any  piece  of  wood, 
cut  with  knives,  or  taken  with  a  bug-scoop.  Other  kinds  of  salmon,  with  very  highly  colored  red  flesh,  are 
found  in  the  larger  streams  on  the  island.  We  received  here,  for  a  mere  nothing,  a  welcome  change  from  the 
preserved  food  with  which  we  had  long  ago  become  thoroughly  disgusted. 

COURTESY  OF  THE  ALASKA  COMMERCIAL,  COMPANY. — Beside  that,  the  expedition  received,  as  a  gift  from  the 
Alaska  Company,  fat  and  splendid  beeves,  milk,  and  other  refreshments,  and  I  cannot  sufficiently  praise  the 
good-will  we  experienced,  as  well  from  the  Russian  official,  Mr.  Greboritsky,  an  energetic  and  skillful  student  of 
natural  history,  as  from  the  employes  of  the  Alaska  Company,  and  all  other  persons  living  on  the  island  with  whom 
we  came  in  contact.  [Translation  closes. J 

TABLE  SUBMITTED  BY  THH  AUTHOR,  SHOWING  THE  "CATCH"  ON  THE  COMMANDER  ISLANDS. — In  order 
to  show  the  relative  importance  of  the  seal  business  on  these  Eussian  islands  as  compared  with  that  of  our  own,  I 
append  the  following  exhibit  of  what  has  been  done  there  since  18G2.  Professor  Xordenskiold  does  not  seem  to 
have  gathered  the  information;  he  has,  however,  in  his  forthcoming  Yegds-farden,  embodied  my  figures: 

Fur-seal  skins  taken  for  shipment  from  the  Commander  islands. 


Tears. 

Xnmber 

Of  KlMls 

taken. 

Years. 

Number 
of  seals 
taken. 

Years. 

Xu  m  her 

Of  B«':ll8 

taken. 

1862 

4  000 

1869 

24  000 

1876 

26,960 

1863  ... 

4  500 

1870 

24  000 

1877 

21  "i32 

1804 

5  000 

1871 

3  614 

1878 

31  340 

1865  

4  000 

1872 

29  318 

1879 

42,752 

18C6  

4  000 

1873 

30  396 

-- 

48,504 

1867  i. 

4  000 

L'74 

31  272 

1868  

12,000 

1>1J 

36  T4 

Total,  1862  to  1880      

387,46! 

BERING'S  DISASTER. — The  miserable  ending  to  Bering's  voyage  of  discovery  in  174l-'42  had  one  redeeming 
clause — the  shipwreck  of  the  commander's  vessel  gave  Steller  his  opportunity  of  making  the  fur-seal  rookeries 
known  to  man  for  the  first  time,  in  either  history  or  legend.  As  the  prime  factor  of  this  entertaining  addition  to 
our  knowledge,  I  think  a  short  recital  of  the  misfortunes  of  the  Eussian  expedition  interesting  in  the  relation  which 
it  bears  to  the  subject  of  my  discussion. 

HOMEWARD  VOYAGE  AND  SHIPWRECK. — In  1741.  June 4,  Bering  and  Tschericov  set  sail  from  Petropavlovsky. 
in  two  small  vessels,  the  "  St.  Peter"  and  the  ••  St.  Paul " ;  they  proceeded  as  low  as  the  50-  latitude,  then  decided  to 
steer  eastward  for  the  reported  American  continent.  On  the  20th  the  rude  ships  were  separated  by  a  storm,  and  the 
two  commanders  never  met  in  life  again.  Sunday.  18th  July,  Bering,  while  waiting  for  the  other  vessel,  drifted  on 

our  northwest  coast.     He  passed  some  six  weeks  in  the  new  waters  of  his  discovery,  when  by  the  3d  of  September 
8 


114  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

a  violent  storm  occurred  and  lasted  seven  days,  driving  them  back  to  48°  18'  north  latitude,  and  into  the  lonely 
wastes  of  the  vast  Pacific.  The  scurvy  began  to  appear  on  board ;  hardly  a  day  passed  without  the  death  of 
one  of  the  crew,  and  men  enough  in  health  were  scarcely  left  to  manage  the  ship.  A  return  to  Kamtchatka  was 
resolved  upon.  Bering  became  morose  and  seldom  appeared  on  deck,  and  the  second  in  command,  Stoormau 
Vachtel,  directed  the  dreary  cruise.  After  regaining  the  laud,  and  burying  a  sailor  named  Shumagiu  on  one  of  the 
group  of  Alaskan  islets  that  bear  this  title  to-day,  and  discovering  and  naming  several  Aleutian  capes  and  islands, 
they  saw  two,  which  by  an  unfortunate  blunder,  they  took  for  the  Kuriles  aad  adjacent  to  Kamtchatka;  thus  they 
erred  sadly  in  their  reckoning  and  sailed  out  on  a  point  of  false  departure.  In  vain  they  craned  their  necks  for  the 
land — the  shore  of  Kamtchatka  refused  to  rise,  and  soon  there  was  no  hope  of  making  a  port  in  that' goal  so  late  in  the 
year.  The  wonderful  discipline  of  the  Russian  sailors  was  strikingly  exhibited  at  this  stage  of  the  luckless  voyage; 
notwithstanding  their  fearfully  debilitated  condition,  and  suffering  from  cold  and  wet,  they  obeyed  orders  and 
attended  to  their  duties.  We  are  told  by  Steller  that  the  scurvy  had  already  so  far  advanced  that  the  steersman 
was  conducted  to  the  helm  by  two  other  invalids  who  happened  to  have  the  use  of  their  legs,  and  who  supported 
him  under,  the  arms;  'when  he  could  no  longer  ste^r  from  suffering,  he  was  succeeded  by  another  no  better  able  to 
execute  the  labor  than  himself;  thus  did  the  unhappy  crew  waste  away  into  death ;  they  were  obliged  to  carry  few 
sails,  for  they  had  not  hands  to  reef  them,  and  such  as  they  had  were  nearly  worn  out,  and  in  this  case  they  could 
not  be  replaced  from  the  stores,  since  there  were  no  seamen  strong  enough  on  the  ship  to  bend  new  ones  to  the  yards 
and  booms. 

Soon  rain  was  followed  by  snow,  the  nights  grew  longer  and  darker,  and  now  they  lived  in  dreadful  anticipation 
of  shipwreck;  the  fresh  water  diminished,  and  the  labor  of  working  the  vessel  became  too  severe  for  the  few  who 
were  able  to  be  about.  From  the  1st  to  the  4th  November  the  ship  had  lain  as  a  log  on  the  ocean,  helpless,  and 
drifting  at  the  sport  of  the  wind  and  the  waves.  Then,  again,  they  managed  to  control  her,  and  set  her  course 
anew  to  the  westward,  without  knowing  absolutely  anything  as  to  where  they  were.  In  a  few  hours  after,  the  joy 
of  the  digressed  crew  can  be  better  imagined  than  described,  for  they  saw  the  tops  of  high  hills,  still  at  a  great 
distance  ahead,  covered  with  snow.  As  they  drew  nearer,  night  came  upon  them,  and  they  judged  best,  therefore,  to 
keep  out,  "off  and  on,"  until  daybreak,  so  as  to  avoid  the  risk  of  wrecking  themselves  in  the  dark.  In  the  morning 
they  found  that  the  rigging  on  the  starboard  side  of  the  vessel  was  giving  way,  and  the  craft  could  not  be  managed 
much  longer;  that  the  water  was  very  low,  and  the  sickness  increasing  frightfully.  The  humidity  of  the  climate 
was  now  succeeded  by  intense  cold ;  life  was  well-nigh  insupportable  on  ship  then,  and  they  determined  to  make 
for  the  land  to  save  their  lives,  and,  if  possible,  safely  beach  the  u  St.  Peter". 

The  small  sails  were  alone  set  ;  the  wind  was  north  ;  the  depth  of  water  36  fathoms,  sand  bottom  ;  two  hours 
after  they  decreased  it  to  12  ;  they  now  contrived  to  get  over  an  anchor  and  run  it  at  three-quarters  of  a  cable's 
length;  at  6  p.  m.  the  hawser  parted,  and  tremendous  waves  bore  the  helpless  boat  through  the  darkness  and  the 
storm,  in  to  the  coast,  where*  soon  slie  struck  twice  upon  a  rocky  reef.  Yet,  in  a  moment  afrer,  they  had  5  fathoms 
of  water ;  a  second  anchor  was  thrown  out  and  again  the  tackle  parted ;  and,  while  in  the  energ\  of  wild  despair, 
they  were  preparing  a  third  bower,  a  huge  combing  wave  lifted  that  ark  of  misery,  of  superlative  human  suffering, 
safely  and  sheer  over  the  reef,  where  in  an  instant  she  lay  in  calm  water;  the  last  anchor  was  put  out,  and  the 
voyage  of  Bering  came  to  an  end,  in  4  fathoms  of  water,  over  a  sandy  bottom,  and  only  300  fathoms  from  the 
beach.  In  the  morning  they  found  that  they  had  drifted  in  here  at  the  only  spot  where  they  possibly  could  have 
been  carried  over  a  ridge  of  rocks — that  20  fathoms  distance  right  or  left  of  their  course,  high  basaltic  bowlders 
and  jagged  pinnacles  arose  from  the  sea,  against  which  they  must  have  perished,  had  they  struck  during  the  fury 
of  the  gale  and  the  darkness  of  the  night. 

THE  EXHAUSTED  RUSSIANS  LAND. — Winter  was  now  at  hand  ;  the  crew,  worn  down  with  excitement,  fatigue, 
and  disease,  reposed  until  midday,  then  lowered  the  boat ;  on  the  6th  November,  Vachtel  landed.  They  found 
the  country  barren  and  covered  with  snow.  A  clear  stream  of  excellent  water,  not  frozen,  ran  down  from  the  hills 
to  the  shore;  no  trees  or  even  shrubs  were  visible;  firewood  was  driftwood  on  the  beaches,  so  it  had  to  be  dug 
from  under  snow  and  icy  fetters ;  shelter  there  was  none,  but  they  found  near  the  open  mouth  of  the  little  creek 
some  sand  walls,  and  deep  wind-scraped  hollows  therein ;  these  they  cleared  out  and  covered  over  with  the 
ship's  sails,  to  serve  as  a  temporary  shelter  until  they  could  build  a  wooden  cabin ;  on  the  8th  November,  the 
sand  caves  were  prepared  and  the  sick  taken  from  the  "  St.  Peter"  and  placed  in  them.  Steller,  the  undaunted 
surgeon  and  naturalist,  tells  us  that  some  of  them  died  on  being  brought  up  from  the  ward-room  below,  others  in 
the  boat,  and  others  soon  after  landing— the  violent  change  of  air  snapped  the  slender  threads  remaining  that 
bound  them  to  this  life ;  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  instantly  attacked  by  foxes,  Vulpcs  lagopus,  which  came  down 
suddenly  to  their  strange  prey  without  fear,  apparently  never  having  seen  man ;  and  were  so  bold  that  they 
actually  mangled  the  feet  and  heads  of  the  dead  Russians  ere  the  living  could  bury  them. 

MELANCHOLY  INCIDENTS  OF  BERING'S  DEATH. — On  the  9th  November,  Bering  himself  was  brought  ashore, 
well  shielded  from  the  atmosphere  and  put  into  a  sand  hollow  all  by  himself;  of  the  officers,  he,  alone,  died; 
his  age  and  temperament  inclined  him  to  inactivity ;  he  became  delirious  and  cunning,  taking  his  friends  to  be  his 
enemies,  some  of  whom,  including  Steller,  could  not  come  into  his  presence  during  his  last  illness ;  he  used  to 
amuse  himself  by  detaching  the  sand  from  the  sides  of  the  place  where  he  lay,  so  that  he  soon  covered  his  lower 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  115 

limbs  entirely  with  it;  those  who  attended  him  cleared  it  away  at  first,  but  finally  he  would  not  suffer  them  to  do  so, 
and  showed  impotent  anger  while  they  made  the  attempt;  when  he  died  at  last,  just  30  days  alter  being  brought 
ashore,  he  .was  almost  buried  by  his  own  hands  in  the  sandy  bed  of  his  death;  they  interred  him  near  the  spot, 
and  the  island  is  his  monument,  and  also  the  imperishable  record  of  his  singular  end. 

Steller  says  that  those  who  survived  were  those  who  resisted  the  desire  to  take  to  their  beds,  and  whose  natural 
flow  of  humor  kept  them  sanguine  and  cheerful;  the  officers  who  had  to  be  on  deck  and  up  at  all  hours  looking  after 
everything,  were  never  taken  down  seriously,  though  they  all  were  attacked  by  scurvy.  Not  long  after  Bering 
died,  the  ''St.  Peter"  was  wrecked  by  a  fearful  southeaster;  her  cable  parted,  and  she  came  ashore  near  by  the 
Russian  encampment,  during  the  night  of  December  29;  in  the  morning  she  was  found  buried  8  or  10  fret  in  the 
sand,  completely  shattered;  this  was  a  crushing  blow  to  the  survivors — they  had  counted  alone  on  getting  back  to 
Petropavlovsky  by  her  instrumentality. 

ESCAPE  OF  THE  SURVIVORS. — The  survivors,  45  souls,  lived  through  the  winter  on  the  flesh  of  sea-h'ons,  the 
Kltytina  or  Manatee,  and  thus  saved  their  flour,  etc.;  they  managed  to  build  a  little  shallop  out  of  the  remains  of 
the  "St.  Peter",  in  which  they  left  this  scene  of  the  most  extraordinary  shipwreck  and  deliverance  in  our  annals, 
on  the  16th  of  August,  1742,  and  reached  Petropavlovsky  in  safety  on  the  27th. 

THE  NERVE  AND  COURAGE  OF  STELLER.— Steller  here  saw  the  fur-seal  breeding,  first  of  all  civilized  men, 
in  the  waters  north  of  the  equator;  and  here  he  made  the  earliest  record  of  its  existence  as  an  animal  in  the 
naturanst's  lexicon ;  the  rookery  to  and  from  which  he  used  to  journey  in  observation  was  nearly  nine  miles  from  the 
camp;  and,  considering  his  physical  condition — he  was  never  a  robust  man — the  fatigue  that  his  excursions  must 
have  engendered  would  have  deterred  most  men  from  making  a  second  trip  to  the  "laasbustchie"  of  Bering  island. 

As  our  intelligence  and  appreciation  of  these  valuable  interests  of  natural  science,  and  of  commerce  peculiar 
to  the  Pribylov  group  of  Alaska  and  the  Commander  islands  of  Russia,  increases,  so  does  our  regard  and  esteem 
for  Steller  advance;  since  he  was  the  surgeon  of  that  ill-fated  expedition,  his  duties  in  this  direction  must  have 
consumed  nearly  all  of  his  time  in  the  most  imperative  manner;  what  he  did  do,  therefore,  in  the  line  of  natural 
history,  is  still  the  more  to  be  commended. 

23.  ST.  MATTHEW  ISLAND,  AND  ITS  RELATION  TO  ST.  PAUL. 

POLAR  BEARS  ON  THE  PRIBYLOV  GROUP. — When  the  fur-seals  first  took  possession  of  the  Pribylov  group, 
they  undoubtedly  found  polar  bears  thereon ;  at  least,  I  firmly  believe  that  if  the  bears  were  not  about  when  they 
first  arrived,  it  was  not  due  to  the  inability  of  these  creatures  to  get  there  in  limited  numbers,  but  rather  to  the 
fact  that  nothing  on  the  islands  invited  them,  or  was  as  attractive  as  the  field  to  the  north;  for  this  animal  cannot 
endure  with  comfort  a  temperature  which  even  the  fur  seal  will  submit  to. 

Provided  with  more  walrus  meat  than  he  knew  what  to  do  with,  the  polar  bear,  in  my  opinion,  has  never  can?d 
much  for  the  seal-islands ;  but  the  natives  have  seen  them  here  on  St.  Paul,  and  old  men  have  their  bear  stories, 
which  they  tell  to  the  rising  generation.  The  last  "medvait"  killed  on  St.  Paul  island  was  shot  at  Boga  Slov,  in 
1848 ;  none  have  ever  come  down  since,  and  very  few  were  there  before,  but  those  few  evidently  originated  at  and 
made  St.  Matthew  island  their  point  of  departure.  Hence,  I  desire  to  notice  this  hitherto  unexplored  spot, 
standing,  as  it  does,  200  miles  to  the  northward  of  St.  Paul;  and  which,  until  Lieutenant  Maynard  and  myself,  in 
1874,  surveyed  and  walked  over  its  entire  coast-line,  had  not  been  trodden  by  white  men  or  by  natives,  since  that 
dismal  record  made  by  a  party  of  five  Russians  and  seven  Aleuts,  who  passed  the  winter  of  1810-'ll  on  it;  and  who 
were  so  stricken  down  with  scurvy  as  to  cause  the  death  of  all  the  Russians  save  one,  while  the  rest  barely  recovered, 
and  left  early  the  following  year.  We  found  the  ruins  of  the  huts,  which  had  been  occupied  by  this  unfortunate  and 
discomfited  party  of  fur-hunters,  who  were  landed  there  to  secure  polar  bears  hi  the  depth  of  winter,  when  such 
ursine  coats  should  be  the  finest. 

TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ST.  MATTHEW  ISLAND. — St.  Matthew  island  is  a  queer,  jagged,  straggling  reach  of  bluffs 
and  headlands,  connected  by  bars  and  low-land  spits;  the  former,  seen  at  a  little  distance  out  at  sea,  resemble  half 
a  dozen  distinct  islands;  the  extreme  length  is  twenty-two  miles,  and  it  is  exceedingly  narrow  in  proportion.  Hall 
island  is  a  small  one  that  lies  west  from  it,  separated  from  it  by  a  strait  (Sarichev)  less  than  three  miles  in  width ; 
while  the  only  other  outlying  land  is  a  sharp,  jagged  pinnacle  rock,  rearing  itself  over  1,000  feet  abruptly  from  the 
sea,  standing  five  miles  south  of  Sugar- Loaf  cone,  on  the  main  island.  From  the  cleft  and  blackened  fissure  near 
the  summit  of  this  serrated  pinnacle  rock,  volcanic  fire  and  puffs  of  black  smoke  have  been  recorded  as  issuing. 

Our  first  landing,  early  in  the  morning  of  August  5,  was  at  the  slope  of  Cub  hill,  near  cape  Upright,  the 
easternmost  point  of  the  island.  The  air  coming  out  from  the  northwest  was  cold  and  chilly,  and  snow  and  ice  were 
on  the  hill-sides  and  in  the  gullies;  the  sloping  sides  and  summits  of  the  hills  were  of  a  grayish,  russet  tinge,  with 
deep  green  swale  flats  running  down  into  the  low  lands,  which  are  there  more  intensely  green  and  warmer  in 
tone.  The  pebble  bar,  formed  by  the  sea  between  cape  Upright  and  Waterfall  head,  is  covered  with  a  deep 
stratum  of  glacial  drift,  carried  down  from  the  flanks  of  Polar  and  Cub  hills,  and  extending  over  two  miles  of  this 
water-front  to  the  westward,  where  it  is  met  by  a  similar  washing  from  that  quarter.  Back  and  in  the  center  of 
this  neck  are  several  small  lakes  and  lagoons  without  fish;  but,  emptying  into  them  are  a  number  of  clear,  lively 


116  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

brooks,  in  which  wore  salmon  parr  of  fine  quality.  The  little  lakes  undoubtedly  receive  them;  hence,  they  were  land- 
locked salmon.  A  luxuriant  growth  of  thick  moss  and  grass,  interspersed,  existed  almost  everywhere  on  the  lowest 
ground,  and  occasionally  strange  dome-like  piles  of  peat  were  lifted  four  or  five  feet  above  the  marshy-  swale,  and 
appeared  so  remarkably  like  abandoned  barrabaras  that  we  repeatedly  turned  from  our  course  personally  to  satisfy 
ourselves  to  the  contrary. 

CHANGING  VEGETATION. — As  these  low  lands  ascend  to  the  tops  of  the  hills,  the  vegetation  changes  rapidly  to  a 
simple  coat  of  cryptogamic  gray  and  light  russet,  with  a  slippery  slide  for  the  foot  wherever  a  steep  flight  or  climbing 
was  made;  water  oozes  and  trickles  everywhere  under  foot,  since  an  exhalation  of  frost  is  in  progress  all  the  time. 
Sometimes  the  swales  rise  and  cross  the  hill-summits  to  the  valleys  again,  without  any  interruption  in  their  wet, 
swampy  character. 

LAIRS  OP  THE  POLAR  BEAR. — Here,  on  the  highest  points,  where  no  moss  ever  grows,  and  nothing  but  a 
fine  porphyritic  shingle  slides  and  rattles  beneath  our  tread,  are  bijar-roads  leading  from  nest  to  nest,  or  lairs,  which 
they  have  scooped  out  of  frost-splintered  rocks  on  the  hill-sides,  and  where  the  she-bears  undoubtedly  bring  forth 
their  young;  but  it  is  not  plain,  because  we  saw  them  only  sleeping,  at  this  season  of  the  year,  on  the  lower  ground, 
seemingly  to  delight  in  stretching  themselves  and  rolling  over  the  rankest  vegetation. 

GLACIAL  EXHIBITS. — The  action  of  ice  in  rounding  down  and  grinding  hills,  chipping  bluffs,  and  chiseling 
everywhere,  carrying  the  soil  and  debris  into  depressions  and  valleys,  is  most  beautifully  exhibited  on  St.  Matthew. 
The  hills  at  the  foot  of  Sugar  Loaf  cone  are  bare  and  literally  polished  by  ice-sheets  and  slides  of  melting  snow; 
the  rocks  and  soil  from  the  summits  and  slopes  are  carried  down  and  "dumped",  as  it  were,  in  numberless  little 
heaps  at  the  base,  so  that  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  out  on  the  plain  around,  strongly  put  us  in  mind  of  those  refuse 
piles  which  are  dropped  over  the  commons  or  dumping-grounds  of  a  city.  Nowhere  can  the  work  of  ice  be  seen  to 
better  advantage  than  here,  aided  and  abetted  as  it  undoubtedly  is  by  the  power  of  wind,  especially  with  regard  to 
the  chiseling  action  of  frost  on  the  faces  of  the  ringing  metallic  porphyry  cliffs. 

EXTENSIVE  FLORA. — The  flora  here  is  as  extensive  as  on  the  seal-islands,  200  miles  to  the  southward,  but  the 
species  of  gramma;  are  not  near  so  varied;  indeed,  there  is  very  little  grass  around  about.  Wherever  there  is  soil  it 
seems  to  be  converted  by  the  abundant  moisture  into  a  swale  or  swamp,  over  which  we  traveled  as  on  a  quaking 
•water-bed;  but  on  the  rounded  hill-tops  and  ridge  summits  the  wind-rubbed  and  frost-splintered  shingle  makes  good 
walking;  both  of  these  climatic  agencies  evidently  have  an  annual  iron  grip  on  the  island. 

FANTASTIC  CLEAVAGE  OP  THE  ROCKS. — The  west  end  of  St.  Matthew  differs  materially  from  the  east ;  the 
.fantastic  weathering  of  the  rocks  at  Cathedral  point,  Hall  island,  will  strike  the  eye  of  a  most  casual  observer  as  the 
ship  enters  the  straits  going  south.  This  eastern  wall  of  that  point  looms  up  from  the  water  like  a  row  of  immense 
cedar- tree  trunks;  (he  scaling  off  of  the  basaltic  porphyry  and  growth  of  yellowish-green  and  red  mossy  lichens 
made  the  effect  most  real,  while  a  vast  bank  of  fog  lying  just,  overhead  seemed  to  shut  out  from  our  vision  the 
fofiage  and  branches  that  should  be  above.  This  north  cape  of  Hall  island  changes  when  approached,  with  every 
mile's  distance,  to  a  new  and  altogether  characteristic  profile. 

Our  visit  at  the  west  end  of  the  island  of  St.  Matthew  was,  geologically  speaking,  the  most  interesting 
experience  I  have  ever  had  in  Alaska.  The  geologist  who  may  desire  to  study  the  greatest  variety  of  igneous 
forms  in  situ,  within  a  short  and  easy  radius,  can  do  no  better  than  make  his  survey  here;  the  rocks  are  not  only 
varied  by  mineral  colors,  together  with  a  fantastic  arrangement  of  basalt  and  porphyry,  but  are  rich  and  elegant 
in  their  tinting  by  the  profuse  growth  of  lichens,  brown,  yellow,  green,  and  bronze. 

HUNDREDS  OF  POLAR  BEARS. — An  old  Russian  record  prepared  us,  in  landing,  to  find  bears  here;  but  it  did 
not  cause  us  to  be  equal  to  the  sight  we  saw,  for  we  met  bears — yea  hundreds  of  them.  I  was  going  to  say  that 
I  saw  bears  here  as  I  had  seen  seals  to  the  south,  but  that,  of  course,  will  not  do,  unless  as  a  mere  figure  of  speech. 
During  the  nine  days  that  we  were  surveying  this  island,  we  never  were  one  moment,  while  on  land,  out  of  sight 
of  a  bear  or  bears ;  their  white  forms  in  the  distance  always  answered  to  our  search,  though  they  ran  from  our 
immediate  presence  with  the  greatest  celerity,  traveling  in  a  swift,  shambling  gallop,  or  trotting  off  like  elephants. 
Whether  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  gorged  with  food,  or  that  the  warmer  weather  of  summer  subdued  their 
temper,  we  never  could  coax  one  of  these  animals  to  show  fight.  Its  first  impulse  and  its  last  one,  while  within 
our  influence,  was  flight— males,  females,  and  cubs,  all,  when  surprised  by  us,  rushing  with  one  accord  right, 
left,  and  in  every  direction,  over  the  hills  and  away. 

After  shooting  half  a  dozen,  we  destroyed  no  more,  for  we  speedily  found  that  we  had  made  their  acquaintance 
at  the  height  of  their  shedding  season  ;  and,  their  snowy  and  highly  prized  winter-dress  was  a  very  different  article 
from  the  dingy,  saffron-colored,  grayish  fur  that  was  flying  like  downy  feathers  in  the  wind,  whenever  rubbed  or 
pulled  by  our  hands.  They  never  roared,  or  uttered  any  sound  whatever,  even  when  shot  or  wounded. 

EXCELLENCE  OF  THE  FLESH.— Let  me  testify  at  this  moment  to  the  excellent  quality  of  polar-bear  steak  ;  we 
gave  it  a  fair  trial,  and  it  conquered  all  our  prejudices — mine  in  especial,  because  I  had  been  victimized  with 
black-bear  meat  mauy  years  before,  in  British  Columbia. 

IMMENSE  SIZE  OF  THE  POLAR  BEAR. — These  bears  impressed  me  greatly  by  their  enormous  size.  One,  shot 
by  Lieutenant  Maynard,  measured  exactly  8  feet  from  the  tip  of  its  nose  to  its  excessively  short  tail,  and  could 
not  have  weighed  less  than  1,000  or  1,200  pounds;  it  had  a  girth  of  24  inches  around  the  muscles  of  the  forearm 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  117 

alone,  at  the  place  where  the  skin  was  removed  and  the  foot  cat  off  just  back  of  the  carpal  joint,  that  corresponds 
to  our  wrist.  This  animal  was  very  fat,  and  its  head  was  scarred  all  over  with  wounds,  evidently  received  in 
lighting  with  its  kind  Xo  worms  were  found  in  the  intestines  and  stomach;  the  liver  was  speckled  with  light 
grayish-green  dots,  and  normal.  Many  of  them  were  s^en  grazing  and  rooting  like  hogs  on  a  common. 

FITFUL  SLEEP  OF  BEARS. — They  sleep  soundly,  but  fitfully,  rolling  their  heavy  arms  and  legs  about  as  they 
doze ;  for  naps  they  seem  to  prefer  little  grassy  depressions  on  the  sunny  hill  sides  and  along  the  numerous 
water-courses;  and  their  paths  were  broad  aud  well  beaten  all  over  the  island.  We  could  not  have  observed  less 
than  2.">0  or  300  of  these  animals  while  we  were  there;  at  one  landing  on  Hall  island  there  were  16,  scampering  up 
and  off  from  the  approach  of  the  ship's  boat,  at  one  sweep  of  our  eyes. 

FTR-SEALS  CANNOT  LAND  HERE. — The  chief  attraction  to  these  bears,  undoubtedly,  at  St.  Matthew,  is  the 
walrus  herds ;  aud  the  island's  special  adaptation  by  its  position  to  a  possibility  of  its  ever  being  resorted  to  by 
the  fur-seal,  was  the  reason  of  my  visit ;  and,  the  result  of  my  careful  examination  shows  conclusively  that  the 
character  of  the  gravel  spits  aud  necks  which  are  the  only  landing-grounds  offered,  is  such  as  not  to  be  fit  for  the 
reception  of  breeding  seals,  as  they  would  be  speedily  converted  by  them  into  a  sheet  of  mud  and  slime  ;  and  there 
is  no  other  ground  presented  save  at  the  base  of  cliffs  everywhere  rising  up  from  the  sea.  Seals,  also,  if  they  could 
land  here  independent  of  this  polar  bear  scourge,  which  owns  and  controls  St.  Matthew,  would  find  a  climate 
that  keeps  snow  and  ice  on  the  beaches  until  late  iu  June,  and  still  later;  hence,  I  am  well  satisfied  that  the 
fur-seals  have  never  visited  this  desolate  land,  nor  will  they  ever  rest  upou  it.* 

->4.  DIGEST  OF  THE  DATA  IX  REGARD  TO  THE  FUR  SEAL  ROOKERIES  OF  THE  SOUTH  ATLAXTIC 
AXD  PACIFIC,  AXD  XUMBER  OF  SKIXS  TAKEX  THEREFROM. 

DIFFICULTY  OF  FINDING  CREDIBLE  RECORDS. — Before  I  introduce  the  reader  to  this  subject,  I  desire  to  call 
his  attention  to  the  source  from  which  nearly  all  the  information  which  we  have  touching  it  is  derived.  It  conies 
from  the  verbal  and  written  statements  of  whalers  and  other  sea-faring  men.  The  great  difficulty  which  faces  ine 
as  I  attempt  to  make  up  this  digest  from  such  authority,  is  the  fact  that  I  know  the  failing  of  sailors  to^  well — am 
loo  conversant  with  their  habits  of  loose  and  positively  erroneous  narration.  For  instance,  as  an  illustration  of  tJ'is 
trouble:  suppose  A  had  taken  a  large  cargo  of  fur-seal  skins  from  the  Crozette  islands  some  time  in  1820-'2.5,  and 
when  on  the  homeward  stretch,  had  been  met  at  sea  by  B,  another  whaler  or  sealer;  A  would  invariably  tell  B,  in 
answer  to  queries  as  to  where  he  got  his  catch,  that  he  secured  the  seals  at  any  other  island  far  away  from  the 
real  source  of  supply,  in  order  that  he  might  turn  B  aside,  and  have  a  clear  field,  and  a  lull  ship  at  the  Crozettes 
again,  when  he  should  discharge  at  home  and  return.  The  story,  however,  would  probably  get  into  circulation, 
aud  into  print,  perhaps;  and  to-day  is  misleading  us,  just  as  it  did  B  long  ago. 

SCANTY  RECORDS. — If  anybody  doubts  the  correctness  of  my  statement,  made  in  the  prefatory  words  of  this 
monograph,  to  wit,  that,  though  a  sealing  fleet  of  hundreds  of  vessels  aud  thousands  of  men  had  repaired  to  the 
rookeries  of  the  southern  oceans,  and  had  annually  returned  laden  with  the  skins  of  the  Arctocephalus,  still  not  a 
definite  line  as  to  the  true  result,  i.  e.,  the  number  of  skins  taken  from  those  great  Antarctic  breeding-grounds, 
can  be  found  in  any  writing,  let  him  turn  to  the  laborious  work  of  Allen,  who,  for  eight  or  nine  long  years,  has 
ransacked  the  writings  aud  the  musty  records  of  a  century  back;  and  see  in  his  history  of  the  Xorth  American 
pinnipeds  the  pitiful  sum  of  knowledge  which  he  has  gathered  in  regard  to  the  subject.t  Prior  to  the  tedious 
research  and  publication  just  relerred  to,  iu  looking  toward  the  same  end,  I  gathered  substantially  as  much 
information  in  the  Encyclopedia  Britnnnica,  and  in  Hamilton's  Amphibious  Mammalia.^  But  the  amount  of  this 
information  is  so  abortive  and  faulty  that  I  hesitate  to  reprint  it  here;  yet,  perhaps, its  repnblication,  together  with 
the  equally  brief  and  indefinite  compilation  of  Allen,  may  draw  out  from  some  unexpected  quarter  further  knowledge. 
Hence,  I  submit  the  following: 

DESTRUCTION   OF   THF,   FCR-8EALS   FOR   THEIR  PELTRIES. 

The  value  of  the  peltries  of  the  fur-seal  has  led  to  wholesale  destruction,  amounting,  at  some  lo  -alities,  almost  to  extermination. 
The  traffic  in  their  skins  appears  to  have  begun  toward  the  end  of  the  last  century.  Captain  Fanning,  of  the  ship  Butsey,  of  New  York, 
obtained  a  full  cargo  of  choice  fur-seal  skins  at  the  island  of  Masafuera,  on  the  coast  of  Chili,  in  1793,  which  he  took  to  the  Canton  market. 
Captain  Fanning  states  that  on  leaving  the  island,  after  procuring  his  cargo,  he  estimated  there  were  still  left  on  the  island  between 
£00,000  and  700,000  fur-seals,  and  adds  that  subsequently  little  less  than  a  million  of  fur-seal  skins  were  taken  at  the  island  of  Masafuera 
alone,§  a  small  islet  of  not  over  twenty-five  miles  in  circumference,  and  shipped  to  Canton. ||  Captain  Scammon  states  that  the  sealing- 
lle.-t  oil'  the  coast  of  Chili,  in  1*01.  amounted  to  thirty  vessels,  many  of  which  were  ships  of  the  larger  class,  and  nearly  all  carried  the 
American  tlag.  Notwithstanding  this  great  slaughter,  it  appears  that  fur-seals  continued  to  exist  there  as  late  as  1815,  when  Captain 
Fanning  again  obtained  them  at  this  island.'" 


*  This  survey  made  by  Lieutenant  Mayuard  and  myself  is  the  first  careful  exploration  of  the  island  ;  the  only  work  hitherto  clone  was 
the  approximate  charting  of  its  coast  from  the  decks  of  Cook's  aud  Billings'  and  Bering's  vessels.  Mayiiard  and  myself  made  a  detailed 
plotting  of  the  island,  aud  gave  a  copy  to  the  United  States  Const  Survey  in  August,  1874. 

i  Allen  :    Eiatortj  Xortli  American  I'iunijicd*,  If^O.  pp.  229,230. 

:  Edinburgh,  1839. 

?  Fanning:    roi/agcs  to  the  South  Sea.  etc.,  pp.  117,  11>.     Alk-ii :   Aerf/i  American 

II  f&.,  p.  364. 

r  ll>..  p.  -J99. 


118  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

In  the  year  1800  the  fur-seal  business  appears  to  have  been  at  its  height  at  the  Georgian  islands,  where,  in  the  single  season,  112.000 
fnr-seals  are  reported  to  have  been  taken,  of  which  57,000  were  secured  by  a  single  American  vessel  (the  Aspasia,  nnder  Captain  Fanning). 
Vancouver,  at  about  this  date,  reported  the  existence  of  large  numbers  of  fur-seals  on  the  southwest  coast  of  New  Holland.  Attention 
was  at  once  turned  to  this  new  fteld,  and  in  1804  the  brig  Union,  of  New  York,  Capt.  Isaac  Pendleton,  visited  this  part  of  the  Australian 
coast,  but  not  finding  these  animals  there  in  satisfactory  numbers,  repaired  to  Border's  island,  where  he  secured  only  part  of  a  cargo 
(14,000  skins),  owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  season.  Later  60,000  were  obtained  at  Antipodes  island.  About  180(i  the  American  ship 
Catharine,  of  New  York  (Capt.  H.  Fanning),  visited  the  Crozette  islands,  where  they  lauded,  and  found  vast  numbers  of  fur-seals,  but 
obtained  their  cargo  from  Prince  Edward  island,  situated  a  few  hundred  miles  southeast  of  the  cape  of  Good  Hope,  where  other  vessels 
Ilie  same  year  obtained  full  cargoes. 

In  1830  the  supply  of  fur-seals  in  the  southern  seas  had  so  greatly  decreased,  that  the  vessels  engaged  in  this  enterprise  "  generally 
made  losing  voyages,  from  the  fact  that  those  places  which  were  the  resort  of  seals",  says  Capt.  Benjamin  Pendleton,  "  had  been  abandoned 
by  them,  or  cut  off  from  them",  so  that  the  discovery  of  new  sealing-grounds  was  needed.  Undiscovered  resorts  were  believed  to  exist, 
from  the  fact  that  large  numbers  of  fur-seals  were  seeii  while  cruising  far  out  at  sea,  which  must  repair  once  a  year  to  some  favorite 
breeding-station.* 

Captain  Weddell  states,  that  during  the  years  1820  and  1821  over  300,000  fur-seals  were  taken  at  the  South  Shetland  islands  alone, 
and  that  at  the  end  of  the  second  year  the  species  had  there  become  almost  exterminated.  In  addition  to  the  number  killed  for  their  furs, 
he  estimates  that  not  less  than  100,000  newly-born  young  died  in  consequence  of  the  destruction  of  their  mothers. 

So  indiscriminate  was  the  slaughter,  that  whenever  a  seal  reached  the  beach,  of  whatever  denomination,  it  was  immediately  killed. 
Mr.  Scott  states,  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Morris,  an  experienced  sealer,  that  a  like  indiscriminate  killing  was  carried  on  at  Antipodes  island, 
off  the  coast  of  New  South  Wales,  from  which  island  alone  not  less  than  400,000  skins  were 'obtained  during  the  years  1814  and  1815.  A 
single  ship  is  said  to  have  taken  home  100,000  in  bulk,  which,  through  lack  of  care  in  curing,  spoiled  on  the  way,  and  on  the  arrival  of 
the  ship  in  London  the  skins  were  dug  out  of  the  hold  and  sold  as  manure!  At  about  the  same  time  there  was  a  similar  wasteful  and 
indiscrimiuate.slaughter  of  fur-seals  at  the  Aleutian  islands,  where  for  some  years  they  were  killed  at  the  rate  of  200,000  a  year,  glutting 
the  market  to  such  an  extent  that  the  skins  did  not  bring  enough  to  defray  the  expenses  of  transportation.  Later,  the  destruction  of  fur- 
seals  at  those  islands  was  placed  under  rigid  restrictions  (see  infra  the  general  history  of  the  northern  fur-seal),  in  consequence  of  which 
undue  decrease  has  been  wisely  prevented.  But  nowhere  else  has  there  been  a  systematic  protection  of  the  fur-seals,  or  any  measures  taken 
to  prevent  wasteful  or  undue  destruction. 

THE  SUBJECT  IN  1873. — The  above  embodies  Allen's  gleaning  of  all  that  he  could  learn  touching  the  subject. 
In  1873  I  published  the  following : 

The  government  of  Buenos  Ayres  has,  from  the  first,  protected  and  cared  for  a  small  rookery  of  fur-seals  nnder  the  bluffs  at  Cabo 
Corrientes,  on  its  coast,  where  some  5,000  to  8,000  arc  annually  taken,  but  the  seals  here  have  no  hauliug-grounds  like  those  on  St.  Paul; 
they  are  taken  with  much  labor  under  the  high  cliffs  of  this  portion  of  the  coast.  This  is  the  only  government  aid  and  care  that  this  seals 
have  ever  received  outside  of  Bering  sea.  The  following  extract  shows  the  way  in  which  the  fur-seals  of  the  South  came  into  notice : 

"Soon  after  Captain  Cook's  voyage  in  the  Resolution,  performed  in  1771,  he  presented  an  official  report  concerning  New  Georgia,  in 
which  he  gave  an  account  of  the  great  number  of  elephant-seals  and  fur-seals  which  he  had  found  on  the  shores  of  that  island.  This 
induced  several  enterprising  merchants  to  fit  out  vessels  to  take  them ;  the  former  for  their  oil,  the  latter  for  their  skins.  Captain  Weddell 
states  that  he  had  been  credibly  informed,  that  during  a  period  of  about  fifty  years,  not  less  than  20,000  tons  of  oil  were  procured  annually 
from  this  spot  alone  for  the  London  market,  which,  at  a  moderate  price,  would  yield  about  £1,000,000  a  year. 

"Seal-skins  are  very  much  used  in  their  raw  state  as  articles  of  apparel  by  the  natives  of  the  polar  zones;  when  tanned,  they  are  used 
extensively  in  making  shoes;  and  the  Eskimo  have  a  process  by  which  they  make  them  water-proof  (?),  so  that,  according  to  Scoresby, 
the  jackets  and  trousers  made  of  them  by  these  people  are  in  great  request  among  the  whale-fishers  for  preserving  them  from  oil  and  wet. 
But  the  skins  are  not  only  used  in  this  raw  and  tanned  state  as  leather;  on  account  of  their  silky  and  downy  covering  they  constitute  still 
more  important  articles  connected  with  the  fur-trade.  Thus  considered,  seal-skins  are  of  two  kinds,  which  may  be  distinguished  ashair- 
skius  and/«r-skins.  The  former  are  used  as  clothing  and  ornament  by  the  Kussians,  Chinese,  and  other  nations,  and  the  latter  yield  a  fur 
which  we  believe  exceeds  in  value  all  others  which  have  been  brought  into  the  market.  Many  seals  supply  nothing  but  hair,  while  others 
in  different  proportions  produce  both  the  hair  and,  underneath  it,  soft  and  downy  fur.  The  majority,  we  believe,  are  to  be  considered 
merely  as  hair-skins,  similar  to  the  bear  or  sable,  and  of  these  some  are  excellent  of  their  kind,  and  much  prized." — (Hamilton :  Amphibiout 
Mammalia,  Edinburgh,  1839.) 

It  may  be  considered  superfluous  to  read  a  lecture  to  the  trader  upon  a  matter  so  nearly  touching  his  own  interest,  and  yet  there  is 
one  point,  at  the  same  time,  which  forms  so  essential  a  part  of  my  subject,  that  I  cannot  withhold  a  word  or  two.  These  valuable  creatures 
(fur-seals)  have  often  been  found  frequenting  some  sterile  islands  in  innumerable  multitudes.  By  way  of  illustration,  I  shall  refer  only 
to  the  fur-seal  as  occurring  in  South  Shetland.  On  this  barren  spot  their  numbers  were  such  that  it  has  been  estimated  that  it  could  have 
continued  permanently  to  furnish  a  return  of  100,000  furs  a  year;  which,  to  say  nothing  of  t'.ie  public  benefit,  would  have  yielded  annually  a 
very  handsome  sum  to  the  adventurers.  But  what  do  these  men  do  ?  lu  t  wo  short  years,  1821  and  1822,  so  great  is  the  rush  that  1  hey  destroy 
3JO,000.  They  killed  all,  and  spared  none.  The  moment  an  animal  lauded,  though  big  with  young,  it  was  destroyed.  Those  on  shore 
were  likewise  immediately  dispatched,  though  the  cubs  were  but  a  day  old.  These,  of  course,  all  died,  their  number,  at  the  lowest 
calculation,  exceeding  100,000.  No  wonder,  then,  at  the  end  of  the  second  year,  the  animals  in  this  locality  were  nearly  extinct.  So  is  it 
in  other  localities,  and  so  with  other  seals,  and  so  with  the  oil-seals,  and  so  with  the  whale  itself,  every  addition  only  making  bad  worse. 
All  this  might  easily  be  prevented  by  a  little  less  barbarous  and  revolting  cruelty,  and  by  a  little  more  enlightened  selfishness. 

With  regard  to  this  seal-fishery  of  the  south,  the  English  and  Americans  have  exclusively  divided  it  between  them,  and  with  very 
great  profits.  It  has  lately  been  stated  (1839)  that  they  together  employ  not  fewer  than  sixty  vessels  in  the  trade,  of  from  2,";P  to  300  tons 
burden.  These  vessels  are  strongly  built,  and  have  each  six  boats,  like  those  of  the  whalers,  together  with  a  small  vessel  of  40  tons,  which 
is  put  in  requisition  when  they  reach  the  scene  of  their  operations.  The  crew  consists  of  about  24  hands,  their  object  being  to  select  a 
fixed  locality  from  which  to  make  their  various  bateaux.  Thus  it  is  very  common  for  the  ship  to  be  moored  in  some  secure  bay  and  be 
partially  unrigged,  while  at  the  same  tirno  the  furnaces,  try-pots,  etc.,  required  for  making  the  oil  are  placed  on  shore.  The  little  cutter 
is  then  rigged  and  manned  with  about  half  the  crew,  who  sail  about  the  neighboring  islands  and  send  a  few  men  here  and  there  on  shore, 
where  they  may  see  seals  or  wish  to  watch  for  them.  The  campaign  frequently  lasts  for  three  years,  and  in  the  midst  of  unheard-of 
privations  and  dangers.  Some  of  the  crew  arc  sometimes  left  on  distant,  barren  spots,  the  others  being  driven  off  by  storms.  They  are 
left  to  perish  or  drag  out  for  years  a  most  precarious  and  wretched  existence.! 

"Fanning:   royages,  p.  487.  t  Robert  Hamilton:  Amphibious  Mammalia,  Edinburgh,  1839. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  119 

With  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  fur-sealiug  was  carried  on  then,  we  find  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica 
the  following  facts: 

From  about  the  year  18Q6  till  1823  an  extensive  trade  was  carried  on  in  the  South  seas  in  procuring  seal-skins.  These  were  obtained 
in  vast  abundance  by  the  first  traders,  and  yielded  a  very  large  profit.  The  time  was  when  cargoes  of  those  skins  yielded  $5  or  $6  a  piece 
in  China,  and  the  present  price  in  the  English  market  averages  from  SO  to  50  shillings  per  skin.  The  number  of  skins  brought  off  from 
Georgia  cannot  be  estimated  at  fewer  than  1,'^00,000 ;  the  island  of  Desolation  has  been  equally  productive,  and,  in  addition  to  the  vast  sums 
of  rnouey  which  these  creatures  have  yielded,  it  is  calculated  that  several  thousand  tons  of  shipping  have  annually  been  employed  in  the 
traffic.' 

EXTERMINATION,  THE  RESULT. — This  gives  a  very  fair  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  the  business  was  conducted 
in  the  South  Pacific.  How  long  would  our  sealing  interests  in  Bering  sea  withstand  the  attacks  of  such  a  fleet  of 
sixty  vessels,  carrying  from  twenty  to  thirty  men  each?  Not  over  two  seasons.  The  fact  that  these  great  southern 
rookeries  withstood  and  paid  for  attacks  of  this  extensive  character  during  a  period  of  more  than  twenty  years, 
speaks  eloquently  of  the  millions  upon  millions  that  must  have  existed  in  the  waters  now  almost  deserted  by  them. 

EARLY  AUTHORITIES  ON  THE  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  FUR-SEAL. — Whenever  I  have  followed  the  records  made 
by  navigators  of  any  one  of  these  several  islauds  in  the  Antarctic,  from  whence  hundreds  of  thousands  of  fur-seals 
are  said  to  have  been  annually  taken,  I  have  never  found  anything  in  the  line  of  circumstantial  evidence  of  the 
fact.  For  instance,  had  any  vast  rookery,  such  as  is  the  one  at  Northeast  point,  St*  Paul  island,  been  in  existence 
at  Masafuera  or  Juan  Fernandez,  when  they  were  visited  by  William  Dampier  in  1683 — by  Wood-Rogers  in  1709 — 
in  1740  and  1767  by  Anson  and  Carteret,  surely  the  extraordinary  spectacle,  must  have  provoked  their  attention 
and  description.  So  far  from  hinting  at  any  such  congregation  of  massed  seal  life  on  the  land,  they,  on  the 
contrary,  have  more  to  say  in  regard  to  the  wild  goats  which  they  found  there,  with  the  single  exception  of 
Dampier.  Those  were  the  progeny  of  the  original  stock  left  on  the  islands  by  Spanish  pirates,  long  before  (1563-'66). 
I  select  these  two  islands  for  especial  reference  in  this  connection,  because  they  had  been  well  known  to  seamen 
before  the  hunting  of  the  fur-seal  was  a  recognized  business,  and  desciibed  by  them.  According  to  the  accounts 
of  the  sealers,  they  were  the  source  ofseveral  of  the  largest  cargoes  of  fur-seal  skins  that  were  ever  taken  from  any 
one  or  two  places  south  of  the  equator. 

ANSON'S  VOYAGE,  1740-'41. — The  best  description  of  Juan  Fernandez  written  prior  to  the  ravages  of  the  seal- 
huuting  fleet  (1SOO-'13),  is  the  personal  account  made  of  it  by  Richard  Walter,  the  chaplain  to  Lord  Alison's  flagship, 
the  "Centurion",  who  lived  ashore  there  for  three  months,  June  to  September,  1741.  Alison's  fleet  of  seven 
••caravels"  was  dispersed  by  a  fearful  storm  in  rounding  the  Horn,  and  the  crews  well-nigh  exterminated  by  scurvy. 
Only  four  of  the  vessels  succeeded  in  joining  him  here,  which  was  the  preordained  rendezvous;  and  the  ninety 
days  in  camp  at  Juan  Fernandez  wen-  passed  in  recuperation  of  the  men  and  refitting  the  shattered  ships. 

REMARKABLE  PHYSICAL  CONTRAST  BETWEEN  ARCTIC  AND  ANTARCTIC  ROOKERIES. — I  offer  this  description, 
by  Chaplain  Walter,  of  these  celebrated  southern  sealing-grouuds,  as  an  interesting  statement  for  comparison  with 
that  which  I  have  given  of  the  Pribylov  group.  Certainly  the  ultra  difference  in  natural  character  between  St.  Paul 
and  St.  George  at  the  north,  and  Crusoe's  isle  and  Masafuera  on  the  south,  is  strongly  defined  and  remarkable. 
The  ground-trailing,  or  creeping  willow  (Salix  reticulata)  of  Bering  sea  is  the  only  tree  or  shrub  that  the  fur-seal  can 
rub  against  on  the  Pribylov  islands;  but  his  southern  brother  is  acquainted  with  the  shadow  of  the  cabbage  palm. 
The  following  is  a  copy  of  Walter's  picture,  drawn  from  life,  and  it  is  a  very  graphic  one: 

DESCRIPTION  OF  JUAN  FERNANDEZ. — However,  on  the  10th  of  June,  iu  the  afternoon,  we  got  under  the  lee  of  the  island,  and  kept 
ranging  along  it  at  about  two  miles'  distance,  in  order  to  look  out  for  the  proper  anchorage,  which  was  described  to  be  in  a  bay  on  the 
north  side.  Being  now  nearer  in  with  the  store,  we  could  discover  that  the  broken,  craggy  precipices,  which  had  appeared  so  unpromising 
at  a  distance,  were  far  from  barren,  being  in  most  places  covered  with  woods,  and  that  between  them  there  were  everywhere  interspersed 
the  finest  valleys,  covered  with  a  most  beautiful  verdure,  and  watered  with  numerous  streams  and  cascades,  no  valley  of  any  kind  being 
unprovided  with  its  proper  rill.  *  »  »  At  four  in  the  morning  our  cntter  was  dispatched  with  our  third  lieutenant  to 

find  out  the  bay  we  were  in  search  of,  who  returned  again  at  noon  with  the  boat  laden  with  seals  and  grass,  for  although  the  island 
alioiinded  with  better  vegetables,  yet  the  boat's  crew  iu  their  short  stay  had  not  met  with  them,  and  they  well  knew  that  even  grass 
would  prove  a  dainty,  as,  indeed,  it  was  all  soon  eagerly  devoured.  [They  were  ill  with  scurvy.— II.  W.  K.]  The  seals,  too,  were 
considered  as  fresh  provision,  but  as  yet  were  not  much  admired,  though  they  grew  afterward  into  more  repute,  for  what  rendered  them 
]<-ss  valuable  at  this  juncture  was  the  prodigious  quantity  of  excellent  fish  which  the  people  aboard  had  taken  during  the  absence  of  the 
boat. 

The  island  of  Juan  Fernandez  lies  in  the  latitude  of  33°  40'  south,  and  it  is  a  hundred  and  ten  leagues  distant  from  the  continent 
of  Chili.  It  is  said  to  have  received  its  name  from  a  Spaniard  who  formerly  procured  a  granl  of  it,  and  resided  there  some  time  with  a 
view  of  settling  on  it,  but  afterward  abandoned  it.  *  *  *  The  island  is  of  an  irregular  figure.  «  •  »  jjs  greatest 
1-xte.nt  is  between  four  and  five  leagues,  and  its  greatest  breadth  somewhere  short  of  two  leagues;  the  only  safe  anchorage  at  this  island 
is  at  the  north  side. 

The  northern  part  of  this  island  is  composed  of  high,  craggy  hills,  many  of  them  inaccessible,  though  generally  covered  with  trees; 
the  soil  of  this  part  is  loose  and  shallow,  so  that  very  large  trees  on  the  hills  soon  perish  for  want  of  root,  and  are  then  easily  overturned. 
*  *  *  The  southern,  or  rather  the  southwestern  part  of  the  island,  as  distinguished  in  the  plan,  is  widely  different  from  the  rest,  being 
dry.  stony,  and  destitute  of  trees,  and  very  flat  and  low  compared  with  the  hills  on  the  northern  part.  This  part  of  the  island  is  never 
fre. i uemed  by  ships,  being  surrounded  by  a  steep  shore,  and  having  little  or  no  fresh  water,  and  besides  it  is  exposed  to  the  southerly 
wind,  which  generally  blows  here  the  whole  ycaf  round,  and  on  the  winter  solstice  very  hard. 


"Elliott:  Condition  of  Affairs  in  Alaska,  p.  261. 


120  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

VEGETATION  OF  JUAN  FKRNANDEZ. — The  trees,  of  which  the  woods  on  the  northern  side  of  the  island  are  composed,  are  most  of 
them  aromatics,  and  of  many  different  sorts.  There  are  none  of  them  of  a  size  to  yield  any  considerable  timber,  except  the  myrtle  trees, 
which  are  the  largest  on  the  island,  and  supplied  us  with  all  the  timber  we  made  use  of;  but  even  these  would  not  work  to  a  greater 
length  than  forty  feet.  The  top  of  the  myrtle  tree  is  circular  and  appears  as  if  it  had  been  clipped  by  art;  it  bears  on  its  bark  an 
excrescence  like  moss,  which  in  taste  and  smell  resembles  garlic,  and  was  used  by  our  people  instead  of  it.  We  found  here,  too,  the 
the  plemento  (palmetto.?)  tree,  and  likewise  the  cabbage  tree,  though  in  no  great  plenty;  and,  beside,  a  great  number  of  plants  of  various 
kinds  which  we  were  not  botanists  enough  either  to  describe  or  attend  to. 

To  the  vegetables  I  have  already  mentioned,  of  which  we  made  perpetual  use,  I  must  add  that  we  found  many  acres  of  ground 
covered  with  oats  and  clover;  there  were  also  some  few  cabbage  trees  upou  the  island,  as  was  observed  before;  but  as  they  generally 
grew  upon  the  precipices  and  in  dangerous  situations,  and  as  it  '.vas  necessary  to  cut  a  large  tree  for  every  single  cabbage,  this  was  a 
dainty  that  we  were  rarely  enabled  to  indulge  in. 

The  excellence  of  the  climate  and  the  looseness  of  the  soil  render  this  place  extremely  proper  for  all  kinds  of  vegetation  ;  for  if  the 
ground  be  anywhere  accidentally  turned  up  it  was  immediately  overgrown  with  turnips  and  Sicilian  radishes. 

This  may  in  general  suffice  as  to  the  soil  and  vegetable  productions  of  this  place,  but  the  face  of  the  country,  at  least  the  north  part 
of  the  island,  is  so  extremely  singular  that  I  cannot  avoid  giving  it  a  particular  consideration.  I  have  already  taken  notice  of  the  wild, 
inhospitable  air  with  which  it  first  appeared  to  us,  and  the  gradual  improvement  of  this  uncouth  landscape  as  we  drew  nearer,  till  we  were 
at  last  captivated  by  the  numerous  beauties  we  discovered  on  the  shore.  And  I  must  now  add  that  the  inland  parts  of  the  island  did  iu 
no  way  fall  short  of  the  sanguine  prepossessions  which  wo  first  entertained  in  their  favor.  For  the  woods  which  covered  most  of  fie 
steepest  hills  were  free  from  all  bushes  and  underwood,  and  afforded  an  easy  passage  through  every  part  of  them;  and  the  irregularities 
of  tho  hills  and  precipices  in  the  northern  part  of  the  island  necessarily  traced  out  by  their  various  combinations  a  great  number  of 
romantic  valleys,  most  of  which  had  a  stream  of  the  clearest  water  running  through  them,  that  tumbled  in  cascades  at  the  bottom  of  the 
valley  by  the  course  of  the  neighboring  hills,  was  at  any  time  broken  into  a  sharp,  sudden  descent;  some  particular  spots  occurred  iu 
those  valleys  where  the  shaded  fragrance  of  the  contiguous  woods,  the  loftiness  of  the  overhanging  trees,  and  the  transparency  and 
frequent  falls  of  the  neighboring  streams,  presented  soeues  of  such  elegance  and  diguity  as  would  be  with  difficulty  rivaled  by  any  other 
part  of  the  globe.  It  is  in  this  place,  perhaps,  that  the  simple  productions  of  unassisted  nature  may  be  said  to  excel  all  the  fictitious 
(fescnpficms  of  the  most  animated  imagination. 

ANIMALS  OF  JUAN  FERNANDEZ. — It  remains  now  only  that  we  speak  of  the  animals  and  tho  provisions  which  we  met  with  at  tliis 
place.  Former  writers  have  related  that  this  island  abounded  with  vast  numbers  of  goats;  and  their  accounts  are  not  to  be  questioned, 
this  place  being  the  usual  haunt  of  the  buccaneers  and  privateers  who  formerly  frequented  these  seas.  And  there  arc  two  instances, 
one  of  a  Mosquito  Indian  and  the  other  of  Alexander  Selkirk,  a  Scotchman,  who  were  left  here  by  their  respective  ships,  and  lived  a'one 
upon  this  island  for  some  years,  and  consequently  were  no  strangers  to  its  produce.  Selkirk,  who  was  the  last,  after  a  stay  of  between 
four  and  five  years,  was  taken  off  the  place  (iu  17(H)  by  the  Duke  and  Dntchess  privateers  of  Bristol,  as  may  be  seen  at  large  iu  the 
journal  of  their  voyage.  His  manner  of  life,  during  his  solitude,  was  in  most  particulars  very  remarkable;  but  there  is  one  circumstance 
which  he  relates,  which  was  so  strangely  verified  by  our  own  observations,  that  I  cannot  help  reciting  it.  He  tells  us,  among  other  things, 
that  he  often  caught  more  goats  than  he  wanted ;  ho  sometimes  marked  their  ears  and  let  them  go.  This  was  about  thirty-two  years  before 
our  arrival  on  this  island.  Now,  it  happened  that  the  first  goat  killed  by  our  people  at  their  landing  had  its  cars  slit,  whence  we 
concluded  that  he  had  doubtless  been  formerly  under  the  powerof  Selkirk.  This  was  indeed  an  animal  of  most  venerable  aspect,  dignified 
with  an  exceeding  majestic  beard,  and  with  many  other  symptoms  of  antiquity.  During  our  stay  on  the  islands  we  met  with  others 
marked  in  the  same  manner,  all  the  males  being  distinguished  by  an  exuberance  of  beard  and  every  other  characteristic  of  extreme  age. 

But  the  great  number  of  goats,  which  former  writers  describe  to  have  been  found  upon  this  island,  are  at  present  very  much 
diminished;  as  the  Spaniards,  being  informed  of  the  advantages  which  the  buccaneers  and  privateers  drew  from  the  provisions  which 
goats'  flesh  hero  furnished  them  with,  have  endeavored  to  extirpate  tho  breed,  thereby  to  deprive  their  enemies  of  this  relief.  For  this 
purpose  they  have  put  on  shore  great  numbers  of  largo  dogs  who  have  increased  apace  and  have  destroyed  all  the  goats  in  the  accessible 
p.'iit  of  the  country;  so  that  there  now  remain  only  a  few  amongst  the  crags  and  precipices,  where  the  dogs  cannot  follow  them.  These 
are  divided  into  separate  herds  of  twenty  or  thirty  each,  which  inhabit  distinct  fastnesses,  and  never  mingle  with  each  other.  By  this 
means  we  found  it  extremely  difficult  to  kill  them  ;  and  yet  we  were  so  desirous  of  their  flesh,  which  we  all  agreed  much  resembled 
venison,  that  wo  got  knowledge,  I  believe,  of  all  their  herds,  and  it  was  conceived,  by  comparing  their  number  together,  that  they 
scarcely  exceeded  two  hundred  upou  the  whole  island.  *  *  *  These  dogs,  who  are  masters  of  all  the  accessible  parts  of  the  island, 
are  of  various  kinds,  some  of  them  very  large,  and  are  multiplied  to  a  prodigious  degree.  They  sometimes  came  down  to  our  habitations 
at  night,  and  stole  *our  provisions,  and  once  or  twice  they  set  upon  single  persons;  but,  assistance  being  at  hand,  they  were  driven  off 
without  doing  any  mischief.  As  at  present  it  is  rare  for  goats  to  fall  in  their  way,  we  conceived  that  they  lived  principally  upon  young 
seals ;  and,  instead,  some  of  our  people  had  the  curiosity  to  kill  dogs,  sometimes,  and  dress  them,  and  it  seemed  to  be  agreed  upon  that 
they  had  a  fishy  taste. 

SEALS  AT  JUAN  FERNANDEZ. — Goats'  flesh,  as  I  have  mentioned,  being  scarce,  we  rarely  being  able  to  kill  above  one  a  day,  and  our 
people  growing  tired  of  fish  (which  as  I  shall  hereafter  observe  abound  at  this  place),  they  at  last  condescended  to  eat  seals,  which  by 
degrees  they  came  to  relish  and  called  it  lamb.  The  seal,  numbers  of  which  haunt  this  island,  hath  been  so  often  mentioned  by  former 
writers,  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  anything  particular  about  them  in  this  place.  But  there  is  another  amphibious  creature  to  be  met 
with  here,  called  a  sea-lion,  that  bears  some  resemblance  to  a  seal,  though  it  is  much  larger.  This,  too,  we  eat  under  the  denomination 
of  boef ;  and  as  it  is  so  extraordinary  an  animal,  I  conceive  it  well  merits  a  particular  description.  [This  is  the  southern  sea- 
clephant,  Macrorliinus  l-oninus;  not  the  sea-lion,  Otaria  jubata. — H.  W.  E.]  They  are  in  size,  when  arrived  at  their  full  growth, 
from  twelve  to  twenty  feet  in  length,  and  from  eight  to  fifteen  in  circumference.  They  are  extremely  fat,  so  that  after  having 
cut  through  the  skin,  which  is  about  an  inch  in  thickness,  there  is  at  least  a  foot  of  fat,  before  you  can  come  at  either  lean  or 
bones;  and  we  experienced  more  than  once  that  the  fat  of  some  of  the  largest  afforded  us  a  butt  of  oil.  They  are  likewise  v.  ry 
full  of  blood;  for  if  they  are  deeply  wounded  iu  a  dozen  places,  there  will  instantly  gush  out  as  many  fountains  of  blood ;  spouting 
to  a  considerable  distance;  and  to  try  what  quantity  of  blood  they  contained,  we  shot  one  first  and  then  cut  its  throat,  and 
measuring  the  b'.ood  that  came  from  him,  wo  found  that  beside  what  remained  in  the  vessels,  which,  to  be  sure,  was  considerable,  we  got 
at  least  two  hogsheads  (!).  Their  skins  are  covered  with  a  short  hair,  of  a  light  dun  color,  but  their  tails  and  their  fins,  which  serve  them 
for  feet  on  shore,  are  almost  black;  their  fins,  or  feet,  are  divided  at  the  ends  like  lingers,  and  the  web  which  joins  them  not  reaching  to 
the  extremities,  and  each  of  these  fingers  is  furnished  with  a  nail.  They  have  a  distant  resemblance  to  an  overgrown  seal,  though  in  some 
particulars  there  is  a  manifest  difference  between  them,  especially  in  the  males;  these  have  a  large  trunk,  or  snout,  hanging  down  live  or 
six  inches  below  the  cud  of  tho  upper  jaw,  which  the  females  have  not,  aud  this  renders  the  countenance  of  the  male  and  the  female 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  121 

easy  to  he  disjingiiished  from  each  other,  beside  the  males  are  of  a  much  larger  size.  The  form  and  the  appearance  of  both  the  male  and 
,,,e  female  are  very  exactly  represented  in  the  nineteenth  plate,  only  the  disproportion  of  their  size  is  not  usually  so  great  as  is  there 
exhibited ;  for  the  male  is  drawn  from  life  after  the  largest  of  these  auimals,  which  was  found  upon  the  island ;  he  was  the  master  of 
the  tlock,  and  from  his  driving  off  the  other  males  and  keeping  a  great  number  of  females  to  himself,  he  was  by  the  seamen  ludicrously 
styled  the  bashaw.  These  animals  divide  their  time  equally  between  the  land  and  sea,  continuing  at  sea  all  the  summer,  and  coming 
on  shore  at  the  setting  in  of  the  winter,  where  they  reside  during  that  whole  season.  In  this  interval  they  engender  and  bring  forth  their 
young,  and  have  generally  two  at  a  birth,  which  they  suckle  with  their  milk,  they  being  at  first  about  the  size  of  a  full-grown  seal. 
During  the  time  these  sea-lions  continue  on  shore  they  feed  upon  the  grass  and  verdure  which  grows  near  the  banks  of  the  fresh-water 
streams;  and  when  not  employed  in  feeding,  sleep  in  herds  in  the  most  miry  places  they  can  find  out.  As  they  seem  to  be  of  a  very 
lethargic  disposition,  and  are  not  easily  awakened,  each  herd  was  observed  to  place  some  of  their  males  at  a  distance,  in  the  nature  of 
sentinels,  who  never  failed  to  alarm  them  whenever  any  one  attempted  to  molest,  or  even  to  approach  them ;  and  they  were  very  capable 
of  alarming,  even  at  a  considerable  distance ;  for  the  no5se  they  make  is  v.ery  loud  and  of  different  kinds,  sometimes  grunting  like  hogs, 
and  at  other  times  snorting  like  horses  in  full  vigor.  They  often,  especially  the  males,  have  fnrions  battles  with  each  other,  principally 
about  their  females ;  and  we  were  one  day  extremely  surprised  at  the  sight  of  two  animals,  which  at  first  appeared  different  from  any 
of  all  we  had  observed,  but  on  a  nearer  approach  they  proved  to  be  two  sea-lions,  who  had  been  goring  each  other  with  their  teeth,  and 
were  covered  over  with  blood;  and  the  bashaw,  above  mentioned,  who  generally  lay  surrounded  with  a  seraglio  of  females,  whieh 
no  other  male  dared  to  approach,  had  not  acquired  that  envied  pre-eminence  without  many  bloody  contests,  of  which  the  marks  still 
remained  in  the  numerous  scars  which  were  visible  in  every  part  of  his  body.  \Ve  killed  many  of  them  for  food,  especially  for  their  hearts 
and  tongues,  which  we  esteemed  good  eating,  and  preferable  even  to  those  of  bullocks.  In  general  shape  there  was  no  difficulty  in  killing 
them,  for  they  were  incapable  either  of  escaping  or  of  resisting,  as  their  motion  is  the  most  unwieldy  that  can  be  conceived,  their  blubber, 
all  the  time  they  are  moving,  being  agitated  iu  huge  waves  under  their  skins.  However,  a  sailor  one  day  being  carelessly  employed  in 
skinning  a  young  sea-lion,  the  female  from  whence  he  had  taken  it  came  upon  him  unpevceived,  and  getting  his  head  in  her  mouth,  she 
with  her  teeth  scored  his  skull  in  notches  in  many  places,  and  thereby  wounded  him  so  desperately  that  though  all  possible  care  was  taken 
of  him  he  died  in  a  few  days. 

FEW  BIRDS. — These  are  the  principal  animals  which  we  found  upon  the  island,  for  we  saw  but  few  birds,  and  those  chiefly  hawks, 
blackbirds,  owls,  and  humming-birds.  We  saw  not  the  pendella,  which  burrows  in  the  ground,  and  which  former  writers  have  mentioned 
to  be  found  here ;  but  as  we  often  met  with  their  holes,  we  supposed  that  the  dogs  had  destroyed  them,  as  they  have  almost  done  the  cats ; 
for  these  were  very  numerous  in  Selkirk's  time,  but  we  saw  not  above  one  or  two  during  our  whole  stay.  However,  the  rats  still  keep 
their  ground,  and  continue  here  in  great  numbers,  and  were  very  troublesome  to  us  by  infesting  our  tents  nightly. 

ABUNDANCE  OF  KISH. — But  that  which  furnished  us  with  the  most  delicious  repasts  at  this  island  remains  still  to  be  described — this 
was  the  tish,  with  which  the  whole  bay  was  most  plentifully  stored,  and  with  the  greatest  variety,  for  we  found  here  cod  of  a  prodigious 
size,  and  by  the  report  of  some  of  our  crew,  who  had  been  formerly  employed  in  the  Newfoundland  fishery,  not  iu  less  plenty  than  is  to  be 
met  with  on  the  banks  of  that  island.  "We  caught  also  cavallies,  gropers,  large  breams,  maids,  silver  fish,  congers  of  a  peculiar  kind — 
above  all,  a  black-fish,  which  we  most  esteemed,  called  by  some,  a  chimney-sweeper,  in  shape  resembling  a  carp.  The  beach,  indeed,  is 
everywhere  so  full  of  rocks  and  loose  stones  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  hauling  the  seine;  but  with  hooks  and  lines,  we  caught  what 
numbers  we  pleased,  so  that  a  boat  with  two  or  three  lines  would  return  loaded  with  fish  in  about  two  or  three  hours'  time.  The  only 
interruption  we  ever  met  with  arose  from  the  great  quantities  of  do^-fish  and  large  sharks  which  sometimes  attended  our  boats  and  prevented 
our  sport.  Beside  the  fish  we  have  already  mentioned,  we  found  here  one  delicacy  in  greater  perfection,  both  as  to  size  and  flavor  and 
quantity,  than  is,  perhaps,  to  be  met  with  in  any  other  part  of  the  world;  this  was  sea  eray-fish;  they  generally  weighed  eight  or  nine 
pounds  apiece,  were  of  a  most  excellent  taste,  and  lay  iii  such  abundance  near  the  water's  edge  that  the  boat-hooks  often  struck  into  them 
in  putting  the  boat  to  and  from  the  shore. 

STRANGE  CONTRAST  IN  SEAXING-GROUNDS. — Thus  ends  Chaplain  Walter's  description  of  the  plants,  and  the 
animals,  and  the  fish  of  Juan  Fernandez;  and  I  quote  him  in  full,  because  I  wish  to  emphasize  the  decided  difference 
iu  the  temperament  and  constitution  of  the  northern,  or  Alaskan,  fur-seal  from  that  of  its  southern  relative,  which 
seems  to  have  repaired  to  Juan  Fernandez  and  Masafuera  iu  countless  thousands,  "millions,"  Dampier  said,  iu  1683, 
to  breed  in  a  tropical  climate,  on  an  island  infested  by  bauds  of  wild  dogs,  and  the  waters  surrounding  alive  with 
'•large  sharks"!  Then,  too,  that  the  good  prelate  should  have  found  fish  so  abundant  where  such  multitudes  of 
seals  were  aggregated,  seems  strange;  a;  d  it  also  occurs  rather  odd  to  me  that  he  should  have  rested  content  with 
Dampier's  brief  description  of  the  fur-seal  here,  and  passed  the  matter  by,  in  the  abrupt  reference  which  he  makes, 
declaring  it  superfluous  to  add  more  than  "other  writers"  have  spoken  of. 

THE  ROOKEKY  OF  MASAFUEKA:  A  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  ISLET. — The  island  of  Masafuera  lies  off  the  coast 
of  Chili,  in  south  latitude  33°  45',  west  longitude  80°  40',  just  west  of  Juan  Fernandez,  93  miles;  the  surprising 
number  of  over  480,000  fur-seal  skins  are  said  to  have  been  taken  from  it  in  a  single  season,  some  fifty  years  or  so 
ago.  Whether  this  immense  aggregate  was  slain  there  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  no  one  rookery  in  all  the  South  seas 
was  of  more  importance.  It  is  a  high  and  mountainous  volcanic  islet,  triangularly  formed,  and  about  7  or  8  leagues 
in  coast  circuit.  The  general  character  of  the  island  seems  to  be  very  much  as  I  have  indicated  as  characteristic  of 
St.  George,  only  that  a  luxuriant  growth  of  exotic  shrubbery  is  found  thereon.  On  the  north  side  of  the  island 
is  a  low  point  of  laud  upon  which  the  noted  fur-seal  rookery  used  to  exist.  "The  seals,"  Carteret,  in  17ti7, 
says,  "  were  so  numerous  that  I  verily  think  if  many  thousands  of  them  were  killed  in  a  night,  they  would  i  ot  be 
missed  in  the  morning;  we  were  obliged  to  kill  a  noted  number  of  them,  as,  when  we  walked  the  shore,  they  were 
continually  running  against  us,  making  at  the  same  time  a  most  terrible  noise.  These  animals  yield  excellent  train- 
oil,  and  their  hearts  and  plucks  were  very  good  eating,  being  iu  taste  something  like  those  of  a  hog,  and  their  skins 
were  covered  with  the  finest  fur  I  ever  saw  of  the  kiudj' 

ANSON'S  VISIT  TO  MASAFUERA. — Lord  Anson  sent  one  of  his  vessels  over  to  Masafuera  for  the  purpose  of 
surveying  it  thoroughly,  while  he  was  lying  at  Juan  Fernandez,  refitting.  June  to  September,  1740.  Captain  Saunders 
submitted  substantially  the  following  report,  which  Chaplain  Walter  indorses  as  valuable,  inasmuch  "as  upon  this 


122  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

occasion  the  island  of  Masafuera  was  more  particularly  examined  than,  I  dare  say,  it  ever  had  been  before,  or, 
perhaps,  ever  will  be  again".    He  gives,  in  the  succeeding  language,  the  sum  of  the  Alison  survey: 

The  Spaniards  have  generally  mentioned  two  islands  under  the  name  of  Juan  Fernandez,  styling  them  the  greater  and  the  less  ;  the 
greater  being  that  island  where  we  anchored,  and  the  less  being  the  island  we  are  now  describing,  which,  because  it  is  more  distant  from  the 
continent,  they  have  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Masa-Fuera.  The  Tryal  sloop  found  tiiat  it  bore  from  the  greater  Juan  Fernandez  W. 
by  S.,  and  was  about  twenty -two  leagues  distant.  It  is  a  much  larger  and  better  spot  than  has  been  generally  reported;  for  former  writers 
have  represented  it  as  a  small  barren  rock,  destitute  of  wood  and  water,  and  altogether  inaccessible;  whereas,  our  people  fouud  it  was 
covered  with  trees,  and  that  there  were  several  fine  falls  of  water  pouring  down  its  sides  into  the  sea ;  they  found,  too,  that  there  was  a 
place  where  a  ship  might  come  to  anchor  on  the  north  side  of  it;  though,  indeed,  the  anchorage,  is  inconvenient,  for  the  bank  extends  but 
a  little  way,  is  steep,  too,  and  has  very  deep  water  upon  it,  so  that  you  must  come  to  an  anchor  very  near  the  shore,  and  there  lie  exposed 
to  all  the  winds  but  a  southerly  one ;  and,  beside  the  inconvenience  of  the  anchorage,  there  is,  also,  a  reef  of  rocks  running  off  from  the 
eastern  point  of  the  island,  about  two  miles  in  length,  though  there  is  little  danger  to  be  feared  from  them,  because  they  are  always  to  be 
seen  by  the  seas  breaking  over  them.  This  place  has,  at  present,  one  advantage  beyond  the  island  of  Juan  Fernandez;  for  it  abounds 
with  goats,  who,  not  being  accustomed  to  bo  disturbed,  were  nowise  shy  or  apprehensive  till  they  had  been  frequently  fired  at.  These 
animals  reside  here  in  great  tranquillity,  the  Spaniards  not  having  thought  the  island  considerable  enough  to  be  frequented  by  their 
enemies,  and  have  not,  therefore,  been  solicitous  to  destroy  the  provisions  upon  it;  so  that  no  dogs  have  been  hitherto  set  ou  shore  there. 
Beside  the  goats,  our  people  found  there  vast  numbers  of  seals  and  sea-lions.  And  upon  the  whole  they  seemed  to  imagine  that,  though 
it  was  not  the  most  eligible  place  for  a  ship  to  refresh  at,  yet,  in  case  of  necessity,  it  might  afford  some  sort  of  shelter,  and  prove  of 
considerable  use,  especially  to  a  single  ship,  etc. 

NEGLECT  OF  CHILI. — Chili  has  suffered  these  famous  breeding-grounds  of  Arctocephalus  to  be  ravaged  and 
utterly  eliminated;  here  she  had  perpetual  interests  worth  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  to  her 
annually  in  the  way  of  revenue,  had  they  only  been  looked  after  and  shielded  from  that  wanton  and  mercenary 
destruction  which  has  been  visited  upon  them  by  sealers  of  all  nations  between  1806-1840.  In  1717  the  Spanish 
government  revived  and  re-established  the  colony  of  Juan  Fernandez  on  that  island ;  but  it  was  in  the  lapse  of  a 
few  decades  almost  entirely  ruined  by  an  earthquake.  During  1810  the  Chilians  gained  their  independence,  and 
these  two  islands  formed  part  of  their  possessions;  in  1819  they  established  a  sort  of  a  Botany  Bay  on  Juan 
Fernandez,  and  have  had  as  many  as  500  prisoners  there  at  a  time ;  it  was  found,  however,  to  be  .too  expensive, 
and  when  a  mutiny,  in  1835,  placed  the  island  in  the  hands  of  the  convicts  for  a  brief  period,  then  the  prisoners 
were  all  removed  shortly  afterward,  and  the  island  deserted,  and  remained  so  for  forty-five  or.  fifty  years.  At 
the  present  time  the  two  islands,  Fernandez  and  Masafuera,  are  leased  by  a  Chilian  merchant,  who  employs  all 
the  settlers  in  cutting  wood,  tending  cattle,  and,  during  the  season,  in  sealing;  the  average  catch  is  about  2,000 
fur-seals  annually. 

VALUE  OF  THE  ANSONIAN  ACCOUNT  JUST  QUOTED. — The  Ansonian  description,  thus  quoted  in  much  detail, 
is  one  that  cannot  fail  to  cause  decided  comment  upon  the  marked  physical  differences  under  which  the  fur-seal 
thrives  in  the  north  on  the  islets  of  Bering  sea,  as  Callorhinus  ursinm,  or  in  the  south,  as  Arctocephalus  australte,  on 
Masafuera  and  Juan  Fernandez.  According  to  Walter,  the  size  of  these  two  subtropical  islands  is  nearly  in  accord 
with  the  area  which  I  found  belonging  to  the  Pribylov  group;  St.  Paul  being  about  the  same  superficial  area  of  Juan 
Fernandez,  with  outlying  rocks  and  islets  alike  peculiar  to  each ;  while  St.  George  is  a  trifle  larger,  only,  than  the 
smaller  Masafuera,  with  water  bold  and  abrupt  all  around  about  them. 

THE  SUBTROPICAL  ROOKERIES  MERE  ROCKY  BREEDING  BELTS. — The  rookery  sites  of  the  fur-seal  are  not 
located  by  any  writer  on  either  island.  I  should  judge  from  Walter's  account  that  the  entire  desolate  south  shore 
of  Juan  Fernandez  was  a  belt  of  cliff-bound  breeding-grounds,  where  these  animals  laid  as  they  do  to-day  under  the 
bluffs  on  the  Great  Eastern  rookery  at  St.  George ;  and  to  which  spot  none  of  the  Dampier  or  Anson  voyagers 
resorted.  Indeed,  from  all  that  I  can  learn  of  the  physical  structure  of  the  islands  to  which  the  southern  fur-seal 
repaired,  the  whole  area  presented  suitable  for  these  creatures  to  breed  upon  was  of  this  character,  save  that  of  the 
Falkland  islands;  no  such  ground  in  general  topography  as  St.  Paul  being  known  to  the  Antarctic,  nor  is  it  found 
elsewhere  in  the  Arctic;  but  St.  George  is  the  common  type  of  the  southern  seal-islands,  as  it  is  also  typical  of  the 
entire  Aleutian  chain  and  Alaska  generally. 

STRANGE  OMISSION  OF  CHAPLAIN  WALTER. — The  one  queer  thought  in  my  mind  relative  to  this  lengthy  visit 
of  Ansou  to  Juan  Fernandez,  is  that  the  historian,  from  whom  I  have  quoted  so  liberally,  should  not  speak  of  the 
fur-seal;  for,  thirty-two  years  prior  to  his  lauding  Captain  Wood-Rogers,  of  the  "Duke",  a  privateer,  touched 
here  to  recruit,  and  found  "Robinson  Crusoe"  Selkirk  in  lonely  possession;  that  sailor  left  with  Rogers,  February 
12,  1709,  and  he  gave  quite  a  story  of  his  discovery  of  the  seals,  which  is  related  by  the  captain.  Curiously  enough, 
acco.-ding  to  Selkirk,  the  time  when  the  fur-seal  hauls  out  to  breed  on  Juan  Fernandez  is  that  season  of  the  year 
when  Auson  was  there.  Wood-Rogers  reports  him  as  saying,  "  Toward  the  end  of  the  month  of  June  these  animals 
come  on  shore  to  bring  forth  their  young  and  remain  to  the  end  of  September,  without  stirring  from  the  spot  and 
without  taking  any  kind  of  nourishment."  (Kern  Collection  of  Voyages:  vol.  xi.) 

NUMBERS  OF  DEADLY  ENEMIES  THERE:  SHARKS. — The  time  of  breeding,  therefore,  is  about  the  same  as  in 
Bering  sea.  Also,  in  this  connection,  Commodore  Byron,  who  came,  in  his  voyage  round  the  world,  to  Masafuera 
in  17(55,  seeking  wood  and  water,  says: 

Sunday,  April  28,  1765 ;  there  was,  however,  another  species  of  danger  here  to  which  our  cork  (surf)  jackets  afforded  us  no 

defense,  for  the  sea  abounded  with  sharks  of  an  enormous  size,  which,  when  they  saw  a  man  in  the  water,  would  dart  into  the  very  surf 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  123 

to  seize  him.  Onr  people,  however,  happily  escaped  them,  though  they  were  many  times  very  near;  one  of  them,  which  was  upward  of 
20  feet  long,  came  close  to  one  of  the  boats  that  was  watering,  and  having  seized  a  large  seal  instantly  devoured  it  at  a  moulhfnl,  and  I, 
myself,  saw  another  of  about  the  same  size  do  the  same  thing  under  the  ship's  stern.  (Hawksworth:  Voyage*:  London,  1773;  vol.  i,  pp. 

87-88.) 

No  other  mention  of  seals  is  made  by  him  here  at  Masafuera. 

THE  VOYAGE  OF  DAMPIER. — Fifty-seven  years  prior  to  Chaplain  Walter's  inspection  and  description  of  Juan 
Ferdandez,  Capt.  William  Dainpier  stopped  here,  also,  to  wood  and  to  water,  and  to  rally  his  crew  from  scurvy; 
be  was  making  a  "New  Voyage  Round  the  World",  sailing  from  England;  he  passed  two  weeks  there  in  these 
exercises  of  recuperation  and  refitting.  The  justly  celebrated  buccaneer  delivers  himself  in  this  terse  strain: 

These  [seals]  at  John  Fernandas  have  fine  thick  short  Furre  ;  the  like  I  have  not  taken  notice  of  any  where  bnt  in  these  Seas.  Here 
are  always  thousands,  I  might  possibly  say  millions  of  them,  either  sitting  on  the  Bays,  or  going  and  coming  in  the  sea  round  the  Island, 
which  is  full  of  them  (as  they  lie  at  the  top  of  the  Water  playing  and  sunning  themselves)  for  a  mile  or  two  from  the  shore.  When  they 
come  out  from  the  Sea  they  bleat  like  Sheep  for  their  young;  and  though  they  pass  through  hundreds  of  other's  young  ones  before  they 
come  to  their  own,  yet  they  will  not  suffer  any  of  them  to  suck.  The  young  ones  are  like  Puppies  and  lie  much  ashore,  but  when  beaten 
by  any  of  us,  they  as  well  as  the  old  ones  will  make  toward  the  Sea,  and  swim  very  swift  and  nimble;  though  on  shore  they  lie  very 
sluggishly,  and  will  not  go  out  of  our  way  unless  we  beat  them,  but  snap  at  us.  A  blow  on  the  Nose  soon  kills  them.  Large  Ships  might 
here  load  themselves  with  Seal  Skins  and  Trane  oyl;  for  they  are  extraordinary  fat.  (Dampier:  A  2fetc  Voyage  Bound  the  World,  1683;  vth 
edition,  revised,  1703;  vol.  i,  pp.  88,  90.) 

DAMPIER,  NOT  COOK.  FIRST  TO  NOTE  THE  FUR  SEAL. — This  account  of  Dampier  will  be  instantly  recognized, 
as  far  as  he  speaks  of  their  habits,  as  an  exact  portrait  of  a  breeding-rookery  of  the  fur-seal.  It  is  painfully  brief, 
however;  but  it  antedates  Steller's  contribution  to  the  life  and  habits  of  the  Callorhinus  some  60  years;  and  is 
a  hundred  years  nearly  in  advance  of  Captain  Cook's  mention  of  the  same  subject  on  the  South  Georgian  (1771)  and 
the  Falkland  islands  (1774).  He,  therefore,  and  not  Cook,  deserves  the  credit  of  being  the  first  man  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  civilized  world  to  the  value  and  the  numbers  of  the  fur-seal  as  it  existed  in  southern  waters,  while 
Steller  enjoys  the  same  reputation  with  respect  to  those  of  the  north.* 

But,  after  searching  through  scores  of  antique  traveler's  volumes,  and  reading  the  musty  records  through  and 
through — after  extended  personal  intercourse  with  several  of  the  very  men  who  were  active  in  fur  sealing  throughout 
the  Antarctic  forty  years  ago,  I  have  nothing  but  a  mass  of  disjointed  and  conflicting  data  to  show  as  to  the  real 
number  of  fur-seals  slain  in  the  waters  south  of  the  equator ;  while  the  record  made  by  these  men  of  the  life  and 
habit  of  ArctocephaUts  australis  is  that  odd  medley  of  fact  aud  fiction,  which  destroys  the  value  of  the  one  and  the 
romance  of  the  other. 

THE  FALKLAND  ISLANDS:  THEIR  DISCOVERY. — Captain  John  Da  vies,  an  Englishman,  and  a  companion  of  Sir 
Thomas  Cavendish,  who  made  a  privateersman's  voyage  to  the  South  seas  in  1592,  was  the  first  person  who  saw 
the  Falkland  islands.  In  1594,  Sir  Richard  Hawkins  lauded  upon  them  and  called  them  in  honor  of  his  queen  and 
himself,  "Hawkins'  Maiden-land";  he  said  nothing  about  seals.  In  1598  they  were  seen  by  a  Dutch  squadron, 
Yerhagen,  aud  Sebald  de  Wert  commanding ;  they  touched,  and,  ignorant  of  prior  discovery,  named  them  "  Sebald's 
islands".  Captain  William  Dampier,  au  Englishman,  nearly  100  years  after,  in  1686,  visited  them  and  styled  them 
4lSibbet  de  Wards";  he  does  not  speak  of  seals  there.  They  were  finally  called  the  Falkland  islands  by  Strong,  an 
English  navigator  in  1689;  the  manuscript  journal  of  Strong  yet  remains  unpublished  and  filed  away  in  the  archives 
of  the  British  Museum.  Captain  Cook's  emphatic  mention  of  the  fur-seal  at  South  Georgia  in  1771  gradually  drew 
the  attention  of  fur  sealers  to  a  focus,  when,  from  1801  to  1840,  inclusive,  the  whole  Antarctic  seal  ing-ground  was 
ravaged  by  them,  and  the  Falkland  islands  were  the  head  center  of  all  their  operations.  Great  Britain  took 
immediate  jurisdiction,  for  the  first  time,  over  the  Falkland  islands  in  1833. 

EXTRAORDINARY  ABSKNCE  OF  SEALING  DATA. — Such,  in  brief,  are  the  circumstances  that  attended  the  early 
discovery  of  these  celebrated  Falkland  islands,  which  were  the  rendezvous  of  a  large  sealing-tieet  for  a  period  of 
nearly  30  years — 1800  to  1826,  inclusive;  yet,  in  spite  of  it,  I  can  find  little  or  no  evidence  of  the  extent  of  the 
catch  thereon,  or  of  the  general  location  of  the  vast  rookeries  known  to  be  slaughtered  here  during  that  extended 


'William  Dampier  was  the  boldest  and  clearest-headed  navigator,  of  all  who  then  sailed  into  unknown  seas.  He  discovered 
Australia  a  century  before  Cook  saw  it,  cruising  at  that  time  as  a  buccaneer;  his  narrative  gave  Defoe  the  idea  and  supplied  the  incidents 
of  "  Robinson  Crusoe",  on  Juan  Fernandez;  and  there  is  110  question  in  my  mind  that  he  possessed  those  qualities  which  distinguished 
Captain  Cook,  to  the  fullest  extent ;  he  only  lacked  the  power  of  the  government  behind  him,  to  have  made  a  much  earlier  record,  aud 
entirely  as  meritorious  as  is  the  one  which  Cook  left  for  posterity. 

Although  Dampier  gives  the  tirst  sensible  and  positive  description  of  the  fur-seal  that  I  can  find,  yet  there  is  one  reference  to  this 
animal  much  earlier:  but  it  requires  the  reading  of  an  expert  to  notice  that  it  arose  from  the  sight  of  a  fur-seal.  It  is  found  in  the  account 
of  Henry  Braiier,  or  Brewer,  who,  in  behalf  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  landed  on  the  coast  of  Staten  Land,  9th  March,  IC-J'J,  en 
route  to  Chili.  Here,  at  Valentine's  bay.  he  "saw  among  the  rocks  several  sea-lions  and  sea-dogs,  about  the  bigne-ss  of  a  good Euriipcan 
calf;  some  of  a  grayish,  some  of  a  brownish  color,  making  a  noise  not  unlike  our  sheep,  anil  at  the  approach  of  our  men  they  betook 
themselves  t<.  the  sea."  [Churchill:  Voyages:  London,  17IK):  vol.  i.  p.  45(5.]  As  the  fur-seal  is  the  only  one  of  its  family  that  makes  a 
"imise  not  unlike  our  sheep",  there  is  no  question  that  Henry  Brewer  saw  a  number  of  female  Ardocepkalug  australiv,  iu  especial;  though 
males  were  along,  they  being  so  much  larger,  he  deemed  different,  and  termed  them  sea-lions 

Juan  Fernandez,  the  Spanish  navigator  aud  adventurer,  who,  in  15t53-'u7,  discovered,  pre-empted,  and  colonized  the  island  of  his 
name,  died  ther-  in  I."i75,  or  thereabouts:  with  his  decease,  the  settlement  was  abandoned.  He,  probably,  was  the  first  of  all  civilized 
men  to  really  know  what  a  fur-seal  was;  but  he  has  left  uo  record,  to  my  knowledge,  of  the  fact. 


124  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

interval.  If  these  islands  had  been  far  beyond  the  track  of  commerce,  as  are  all  the  other  Antarctic  sealing-grounds, 
save  Jnau  Fernandez,  then  the  remarkable,  surprising  want  of  data  in  this  respect  would  not  be  so  marked  a  feature 
to  the  history  of  the  subject.  The  Falkland  islands  have  not  only  been  a  common  port  of  entry  and  departure 
for  vessels  of  all  nations  since  their  discovery,  in  1594,  but  as  far  back  as  1770  they  were  a  bone  of  contention  and 
long-sustained  diplomatic  overtures  between  Spain  and  Great  Britain,  which  came  very  near  to  plunging  both 
countries  into  war  on  their  sole  account.  I  will  recite  the  history  of  this  disturbance,  because  its  solution  was  the 
direct  result  of  our  losing  possession  of  Vancouver's  island  and  all  that  British  Columbian  territory  to-day  south  of 
54°  40'  north  latitude — a  fur-sealing  quarrel  at  the  outset  originated  the  Avhole  difficulty. 

TROUBLES  HERE  WHICH  CAUSED  us  THE  LOSS  OF  VANCOUVER'S  ISLAND. — The  piratical  cruise  of  Sir  Francis 
Drake  in  1577,  followed  by  that  of  Thomas  Candish,  or  Cavendish,  and  John  Davies,  in  1592,  whereby  the  Spanish 
settlements  and  galleons  on  the  west  coasts  of  the  American  continent  were  literally  ravished,  aroused  the 
Castilians  to  a  sense  of  their  future  danger,  and  they  began  rather  slowly  to  provide  means  of  shelter  and  future 
support.  In  prosecution  of  this  plan  for  protecting  the  Spanish  settlements  and  commerce  of  America,  Francisco 
Bucareli,  the  governor  of  Buenos  Ayres.  on  the  10th  of  June,  1770,  forcibly  expelled  the  handful  of  British  "  sealers" 
from  their  little  establishment,  Port  Egmont,  on  the  Falkland  islands.  As  soon  as  the  news  of  this  expulsion 
reached  London,  the  English  secretary  of  state,  lord  Weymouth,  addressed,  September  12,  a  demand  to  the  court 
at  Madrid  for  the  immediate  disavowal,  on  its  part,  of  the  acts  of  Bucareli,  and  called  for  the  prompt  and 
unconditional  restitution  of  the  islands  in  the  condition  which  they  were  before  the  writs  of  removal  were  executed. 
War  was  imminent,  but  Louis  XV,  of  France,  tendered  his  good  offices  as  a  mediator  between  the  two  disputants. 
The  Spanish  government  acceded  to  this  and  placed  the  entire  settlement  of  the  controversy  in  the  hands  of  the 
king  of  France,  for  his  disposition  as  he  should  consider  proper  for  the  honor  and  rights  of  Spain.  On  the  22d  of 
January,  1771,  the  otters  of  the  king  of  France  were  accepted  by  the  court  of  St.  James.  On  this  day  the  Spanish 
ambassador  at  London,  Prince  Masserano,  presented  to  lord  Rochford  a  declaration  in  the  name  of  the  king  of 
Spain,  saying  that  his  Catholic  majesty,  solely  desirous  of  maintaining  peace  with  England,  disavowed  the  acts  of 
violence  committed  by  the  governor  of  Buenos  Ayres,  and  engaged  to  restore  to  his  Britannic  majesty  and  his 
subjects  "the  port  and  fort  at  Egmont,  in  the  Falkland  islands,  with  all  the  artillery,  stores,  and  effects,  precisely" 
as  they  were  before  the  10th  of  June,  1770;  at  the  same  time,  however,  this  offer  of  restitution  contained  the 
following  significant  clause :  "  this  contract  cannot,  nor  will  it  in  any  way,  affect  the  question  of  prior  right  of 
sovereignty  to  the  Falkland  islands." 

THE  TREATY  OF  NOOTKA  INFLUENCED  HERE. — The  expelled  Falkland  islanders  were  then  replaced  at  port 
Egmont;  but,  in  1774,  they  were  abruptly  withdrawn  by  order  of  their  own  government,  and  these  islands  were 
again  taken  possession  of  by  the  Spaniards,  who  retained  their  hold  until  South  America  became  independent. 
This  abandonment  of  Great  Britain  provoked  the  bitterest  political  debates  in  Parliament,  and  feeling  ran  high  all 
over  that  country;  deeply  imbued  with  this  sentiment,  Vancouver  went  out,  in  1791,  specially  charged  by  the 
English  government  to  take> possession  of  the  British  territory  on  the  northwest  coast,  according  to  the  articles  of  the 
treaty  of  1790  between  Spain  and  England,  and  came  to  that  region  in  the  following  year.  The  Spaniards  claimed 
Vancouver's  island  then,  in  their  own  right,  and  in  behalf  of  the  Americans,  captains  Gray  and  Kendrick;  their 
agent,  Senor  Juan  Francisco  de  la  Bodega  y  Quadra,  was  stationed  at  Nootka  sound;  and  immediately  after 
Vancouver's  arrival,  August  12,  1791',  the  negotiations  were  commenced,  but  Quadra  could  do  nothing  in  behalf  of 
their  rights  and  those  of  American  discovery.  Vancouver  peremptorily  refused  to  entertain  the  subject.  Quadra 
therefore  surrendered  "Quadra  and  Vancouver's  island"  to  him,  under  protest,  and  withdrew  every  sign  of  Spanish 
authority  from  these  waters  of  the  North  Pacific. 

Thus  the  disturbances  which  arose  over  the  abandonment  of  the  Falkland  islands  in  1774,  worked  the  loss  of 
that  northwest  territory  to  us,  through  Spain,  in  1792.  My  only  regret  (after  an  extended  personal  residence  on 
Vancouver's  island),  concerning  this  whole  subject,  is  that,  out  of  all  the  uproar  at  the  Falklands,  nothing  definite 
has  been  placed  on  record  relative  to  the  numbers  and  disposition  of  the  fur-seal  thereon. 

25.  CATALOGUE  OF  THE  MAMMALS  OF  THE  PRIBYLOV  GROUP. 

[Memoranda  of  collections  made  by  Henry  W.  Elliott:   Pribylov  Islands:  1872  to  1876,  inclusive.] 

CANID  2E : 
Vulpes  lagopus.    BLUE  OR  ARCTIC  Fox.     Common. 

Blue  foxes  were  also,  and  are,  natives  of  the  Commander  islands.  Steller  describes  their  fearlessness  when  the 
shipwrecked  crew  of  the  St.  Peter  landed  there,  Gth  November,  1741.  I  saw  them  also  at  St.  Matthew  island. 

In  regard  to  these  foxes  the  Pribylov  natives  declare  that  when  the  islands  were  first  occupied  by  their 
ancestors,  178G-'87,  the  fur  was  invariably  blue;  that  the  piesent  smoky  blue,  or  ashy  indigo  color,  is  due  to  the 
coming  of  white  foxes  across  on  the  ice  from  the  mainland  to  the  eastward.  The  white-furred  wipes  is  quite 
numerous  on  the  islands  to-day.  1  should  judge  that  perhaps  one-fifth  of  the  whole  number  were  of  this  color; 
they  do  not  live  apart  from  the  blue  ones,  but  evidently  breed  "in  and  in".  I  notice  that  Veniaminov,  also, 


Plate  XXVII. 


Monograph—  SEAL-ISLAN  DS. 


. 


vV"    ' "  '  f 

- 


THE  CURIOUS   SHAG.  NATIVES  OVER  THE  CLIFFS. 

OOLOGICAL  SKETCHES  ON  ST.  GEORGE,   BY  THE  AUTHOE. 

Herewith  presented  through  the  courtesy  »f  flarper  Brothers. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  125 

makes  substantially  the  same  statement;  only  differing  by  charging  this  deterioration  of  the  bine  foxes'  fnr  to  the 
deportation  from  outside  of  red  ones,  on  ice-floes;  and  adds  that  the  natives  always  hunted  down  these  "krassnie 
pfeschee"  as  soon  as  their  presence  was  known;  hence  iny  inability,  perhaps,  to  see  any  sign  of  their  posterity  in 
1872-'76. 

The  presence  of  these  animals  on  the  Pribylov  islands  is  a  real  source  of  happiness  to  the  natives,  especially 
so  to  the  younger  ones.  The  little  pup-foxes  make  pets  and  playfellows  for  the  children,  while  hunting  the  adults 
during  the  winter  gives  wholesome  employment  to  the  mind  and  body  of  the  native  who  does  so.  They  are  trapped 
in  common  dead-falls,  steel  spring-clips,  or  beaver  traps,  and  shot.  A  very  large  portion  of  the  gossip  on  the 
island  is  iu  relation  to  this  business. 

PINNIPEDIA: 

Callorhinns  ursinus.     FUR-SEAL.    Abundant. 
Eumetopias  Stelleri.     SEA-LION.    Common. 
Phoca  vitulina.     HAIR -SEAL.    A  few  only. 

While  the  Phocidte  are  so  scant  as  to  number  and  variety  iu  the  waters  of  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  sea,  yet 
they  fairly  rival  the  myriads  of  the  fur-seal  here  by  their  presence  in  the  waters  of  the  North  Atlantic ;  and,  also,  their 
surprising  aggregate  in  the  Caspian  sea.  So  great  is  the  volume  of  hair-seal  life  in  the  circumboreal  region  of  the 
Orient,  that  the  astonishing  sum  of  from  850,000  to  900,000  PJiocidce  are  annually  taken  there !  and  from  the  Caspian 
sea  an  additional  count  of  a  yearly  average  of  130,000,  making  a  round  million  of  these  animals  slaughtered  eveiy 
season.  At  least,  such  are  the  data  which  we  find  in  the  writings  of  the  only  credible  authorities  known,  viz, 
Bonmcastle,  Xetcfoumllaiid.  iu  1842,  vol.  1,  p.  159;  Carroll,  Seal  and  Herring  Fisheries  of  Ifeufoundland,  1873,  p.  9; 
Lindemau,  Pet.  Geogr.  Mitth.,  pp.  vi.  118;  Die  Arktis&te  Fischerei  der  Deutschen  Seestddte,  1620-1808;  Brown,  Man. 
Sat'.  Hist.  Geol.,  etc.,  of  Greenland,  1868-1875;  Melsoui,  Pet.  Geogr.  J/itt/i.,  1809,  p.  81;  Peterseu,  Pet.  Geogr.  Milth., 
1870,  pp.  194  etseq.,  1871,  pp.  35  et  aeq.;  Loveuskio'ld,  Land  and  Water  (newspaper),  1875,  p.  1GO;  Schultz,  Rep.  U. 
S.  Coin.  Fish  and  Fisheries,  pt.  iii,  for  1873-'74  and  1874-'75  (a  translation  of  the  original  published  at  St.  Petersburg 
in  1873).  Allen,  iu  his  History  N.  A.  Pinnipeds,  has  so  liberally  compiled  and  quoted  from  these  authors  that  it 
would  be  simply  superfluous  service  to  reprint  those  records  here. 

Odobcenus  obesus.     WALRUS.    A  few  only. 

GET  ACE  A: 

Orca  gladiator,  var.  rectipermis.    KILLER-WHALES.    A  few  only. 
Megaptera  versabilis.    HUMPBACK  WHALES.    A  few  only. 

RODENTIA: 

Myodes  obensis.    LEMMING.    Abundant  on  St.  George  only. 

Mus  musculus.     HOUSE  MOUSE.     Common  in  the  villages  (imported  by  man). 

26.  CATALOGUE  OF  THE  BIRDS  OF  THE  PRIBYLOV  GROUP. 

VAST  NUMBERS  OF  WATER-FOWL. — In  the  seasons  of  1872-?73,  respectively,  throughout  the  ornithological 
breeding  terms  on  St.  Paul  aud  St.  George,  I  neglected  no  opportunities,  as  they  occurred,  to  secure  everything 
that  was  peculiar  to  the  feathered  life  upon  these  islands.  The  dreary  expanse  and  lonely  solitudes  of  the  North 
owe  their  chief  enlivenment,  and  their  principal  attractiveness  for  man,  to  the  presence  of  the  vast  flocks  of 
circumboreal  water-fowl,  which  repair  thither  annually.  It  is  true  that  the  mammalian  life  of  the  Pribylov  group 
renders  its  immense  aggregate  of  avifauna  insignificant  by  comparison;  but  to  the  naturalist  and  many  who  are 
not  technically  versed,  the  following  check-list  of  those  species  which  I  found  there,  together  with  a  brief  biography 
accompanying  each  title,  may  be  of  more  than  passing  interest. 

While  a  few  species  of  water-fowl  come  to  these  islands  in  myriads  for  the  purpose  of  breeding,  it  will  be 
noticed  that  the  list  of  names  met  with  here  is  a  brief  one;  still  it  is  of  much  value  to  the  naturalist,  inasmuch  as  it 
comprises  so  many  desiderata  scarcely  to  be  obtained  elsewhere. 

THE  IMMENSE  ROOKERIES  OF  ST.  GEORGE. — Over  fifteen  miles  of  the  bold,  basaltic,  bluff  line  of  St.  George. 
island  is  fairly  covered  with  nesting  gulls,  Kissa,  and  4>arries",  I'ria.  while  down  in  the  countless  chinks  and  holes 
over  the  entire  surface  of  the  north  side  of  this  island  millions  of  "choochkies",  Simorhyncus  2)ttsiUun,  breed,  filling 
the  air  and  darkening  the  light  of  day  with  their  cries  and  flirtering  forms.  On  Walrus  islet  the  nests  of  the  great 
white  gull  of  the  north,  Lams  ghntcux,  can  be  visited  and  inspected,  as  well  ns  those  of  the  sea-pairot  or  puffin, 
Fratercula,  sp.,  shags  or  cormorants,  Gntcalns  sp.,  aud  the  red-legged  kittiwake,  Lams  brerir>i*triv.  These  birds  aie 
accessible  on  every  side,  can  be  reached,  and  afford  the  observer  an  uuequaled  opportunity  of  taking  due  notice 
of  them  through  their  breeding-season,  as  it  begins  in  May  and  continues  until  the  end  of  September. 

ECONOMIC  VALUE  TO  INHABITANTS. — Not  one  of  the  water  birds  found  on  and  around  the  islands  is  exempted 
from  a  place  iu  the  native's  larder;  even  the  delectable  "oreelie"  are  unhesitatingly  eaten  by  the  people,  and  indeed 


126  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

• 

these  birds  furnish,  during  the  winter  season  in  especial,  an  almost  certain  source  of  supply  for  fresh  meat. 
But  the  heart  of  the  Aleut  swells  to  its  greatest  gastronomic  happiness  when  he  can  repair,  in  the  mouths  of  June 
and  July,  to  the  basaltic  cliffs  of  St.  George,  or  the  lava  table-bed  of  Walrus  islet,  and  put  his  grimy  hands  on  the 
gaily  colored  eggs  of  the  "arrie",  Lomvia  array  and  if  he  were  not  the  most  improvident  of  men,  instead  of  taking 
only  enough  for  the  day,  he  would  lay  up  a  great  store  for  the  morrow,  but  he  never  does.  On  the  occasion  of  one 
visit,  and  my  first  one  there,  July  5,  1872,  six  men  loaded  a  badarrah  at  Walrus  islet,  capable  of  carrying  four  tons 
exclusive  of  our  crew,  down  to  the  water's  edge  with  eggs,  in  less  than  three  working  hours. 

DISAPPEARANCE  OF  BIRDS  IN  WINTER. — During  the  winter  months  the  birds  are  almost  wholly  absent, 
especially  if  the  ice  shall  have  closed  in  around  about  the  islands;  then  there  is  nothing  of  the  feathered  kind  save 
the  stupid  shag,  Graculus  bicristatus,  as  it  clings  to  the  leeward  cliffs,  or  the  great  burgomaster  gull,  which  sweeps 
in  circling  flight  high  overhead;  but,  early  in  May  they  begin  to  make  their  appearance;  and  they  come  up  fvoin 
the  sea  overnight,  as  it  were,  their  chattering  and  their  harsh  caroling  wakes  the  natives  from  their  slothful, 
sleeping,  which,  however,  they  gladly  break,  to  seize  their  nets  and  live  life  anew,  as  far  as  eating  is  concerned, 
The  stress  of  severe  weather  in  the  winter  months,  the  driving  of  the  snow  "boorgas",  and  the  floating  ice-floes 
closing  in  to  shut  out  the  open  water,  are  cause  enough  for  the  disappearance  of  the  water-fowl  during  the  hyemal 
season.* 

CASTAWAY  BIRDS  ON  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. — The  position  of  the  islands  is  such  as  to  be  somewhat  outside 
of  the  migratory  path  pursued  by  the  birds  on  the  mainland;  and,  owing  to  this  reason,  they  are  only  visited  by  a 
few  stragglers  from  that  quarter,  a  few  from  the  Asiatic  side,  and  by  the  millions  of  their  own  home-bred  and 
indigenous  stock.  One  of  these  migratory  species,  Strepsilas  interpres,  however,  comes  here  every  summer  for 
three  or  four  weeks'  stay,  in  great  numbers,  and  actually  get  so  fat,  in  feeding  upon  the  larvae  which  abound  in  the 
decaying  carcasses  over  the  killing-grounds,  that  it  usually  bursts  open  when  it  falls,  shot  on  the  wing.  A  heavy 
easterly  gale  often  brings  a  strange  bird  to  the  islands  from  the  mainland;  a  grebe,  Podiceps  griiseigena,  was 
stranded  on  St.  George  in  1873,  whereupon  the  natives  declared  the  like  of  which  they  had  never  seen  before  ;  when 
1  found  a  robin  one  cool  morning  in  October,  the  15th,  the  natives  told  me  that  it  was  an  accident — brought  over 
by  some  storm  or  gale  of  wind  that  took  it  up  and  off  from  its  path  across  the  tundra  of  Bristol  bay.  The  next  fair 
wind  sweeping  from  the  north  or  the  west  could  be  so  improved  by  this  robin,  Tusdus  migratorius,  that  it  would 
spread  its  wings  and  as  abruptly  return.  Thus  hawks,  owls,  and  a  number  of  foreign  water-fowls  visit  the  islands, 
but  never  remain  there  long. 

FAILURE  TO  INTRODUCE  RAVENS — The  Eussians  tried  the  experiment  of  bringing  up  from  Sitka  and 
Oonalashka  a  number  of  ravens  as  scavengers,  a  number  of  years  ago,  and  when  they  were  very  uncleanly  in  the 
village,  in  contrast  with  the  practice  of  the  present  hour;  they  reasoned  that  they  would — these  ill-omened  birds — 
be  invaluable  as  health  officers;  but  the  Corrida;  invariably,  sooner  or  later,  and  within  a  very  short  time,  took 
the  first  wind-train  back  to  the  mainland  or  the  Aleutian  islands ;  yet  the  natives  say  that  if  the  birds  had  been 
young  ones  instead  of  old  fellows,  they  would  have  remained.  I  saw  a  great  many,  however,  at  St.  Matthew  island, 
in  August,  1874;  also,  their  slowly -marked  flight  overhead  was  a  common  sight  on  St.  Lawrence. 

POULTRY  KEPT  BY  NATIVES. — The  natives  keep  a  small  number  of  chickens,  and  often  they  take  their  poultry 
into  their  living  rooms  and  coop  them  up  in  the  corners;  they  get  return  in  eggs;  but  of  all  the  forlorn,  wretched, 
bedraggled  specimens  of  domestic  fowls,  those  that  have  to  shiver  and  shake  themselves  outside  when  viewed 
on  the  seal-islands  are  the  most  miserable.  They  do  not  exactly  freeze,  but  the  raw,  damp,  incessant  violence  of 
the  weather  keeps  them  inactive  and  cowering  for  such  long,  unbroken  periods  that  their  feathers  seem  to  fall  out, 
and  disease  marks  them  for  its  own. 

OOLOGICAL  WEALTH  OF  WALRUS  ISLAND. — I  am  much  divided  in  my  admiration  of  the  two  great  bird- 
rookeries  of  the  Pribylov  group,  the  one  on  the  face  of  the  high  bluffs  at  St.  George,  and  the  other  on  the  table-top 
of  Walrus  islet;  but,  perhaps,  the  latter  place  gives,  within  the  smallest  area,  the  greatest  variety  of  nesting  and 

*  While  daily  served  on  St.  George,  during  June  and  July,  with  eggs  of  indigenous  sea-fowl,  I  recorded  my  gastronomic  comparisons 
which  occurred  theu  as  I  ate  them.  Here  follows  a  recapitulation : 

Fresh-laid  eggs  of  "lupus,"  or  F.  glacialis . .  Best  eggs  known  to  the  islands;  can  be  soft-boiled  or  fried,  and  are  as  good  as  our  own 

hens'  eggs;  the  yolk  is  light  and  clear;  the  size  thereof  is  in  shape  and  bulk  like  a  dnck-'s 
egg ;  it  has  a  white  shell.  SEASON  :  June  1  to  15,  inclusive ;  scarce  on  St.  Paul  and  not 
abundant  on  St.  George. 

Fresh-laid  eggs  of  "  avrie,"  or  L.  arra Very  good ;  can  be  soft-boiled  or  fried ;  are  best  scrambled ;  yolks  are  dark ;  no  strange  tnsfe 

whatever  to  them ;  pyriform  in  shape ;  large  as  a  goose  egg ;  shell  gaily  colored;  they  arc 
exceedingly  abundant  on  Walrus  island  and  St.  George ;  tons  of  them.  SEASON  :  June  25 
to  July  10,  inclusive. 

Fresh-laid  eggs  of  gulls;  Laridce Perceptibly  strong;  cannot  be  relished  unless  in  omelettes;  yolks  very  dark ;  size  and  shape  of 

our  hen's  egg;  shell  dark,  clay-colored  ground,  mottled.  SEASON:  June  5  to  July  20, 
inclusive;  they  are  iu  moderate  supply  only. 

The  other  eggs  in  the  list,  such  as  those  of  the  "chooclikie",  the  "shag",  and  the  several  varieties  of  water-fowl  which  breed  here, 
are  never  secured  in  sufficient  quantity  to  be  of  any  consideration  as  articles  of  diet.  It  is,  perhaps,  better  that  the  scarcity  of  their  kind 
continue,  judging  from  the  strong  smack  of  the  choochkie's,  the  repulsive  taint  of  the  shag's,  and  the  "  t\vang"  of  the  sea- parrot's,  all  of 
which  I  tasted  as  a  matter  of  investigation 


Plate  XXVIII. 


Monograph— SEAL- IS  LANDS. 


THE  "KANGOSKA." 


GATHERING  EGGS  ON  WALRUS  ISLAND. 


CLEOPATRA'S  NEEDLE.  NO  ROOM   KOR  ARGUMENT. 

(ST.  LAWRENCE  ISLAND.) 

ORNITHOLOGICAL  SKETCHES  ON  THE  SEAL-ISLANDS,  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 

Herewith  presented  through  the  ccmrtc'sy  of  Harper  Druthers. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  127 

breeding  birds;  for  here  the  "  arrie"  and  many  gulls,  cormorants,  sea-parrots,  and  auks  come  to  lay  their  eggs  in 
countless  numbers.  The  foot  and  brow  of  the  low,  cliff-like  sea  fronts  to  this  island  are  occupied  almost  exclusively 
by  the  "arries",  Lomvia  arm,  which  lay  a. single  egg,  each,  on  the  surface  of  the  bare  rock,  and  stand,  just  like 
so  many  champagne  bottles,  straddling  over  them  while  hatching;  only  leaving  at  irregular  intervals  to  feed,  and 
then  not  until  their  mates  relieve  them.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  these  birds,  alone,  are  thus  engaged  about  the 
29th  of  every  June,  on  this  little  rocky  island,  standing  stacked  up  together  as  tight  as  so  many  sardines  in  a  box — 
as  thickly  as  they  can  be  stowed — each  of  them  uttering  an  incessant,  deep,  low,  hoarse,  grunting  noise.  How 
fiercely  they  quarrel  among  themselves — everlastingly;  and  in  this  way  thousands  of  eggs  are  rolled  off  into  the 
sea,  or  into  crevices,  or  into  fissures,  where  they  are  lost  and  broken. 

TOUGHNESS  OF  AKRIE  EGG-SHELLS. — The  "arrie"  lays  but  one  egg.  If  it  is  removed  or  broken  she  will 
soon  lay  another;  but,  if  undisturbed  after  depositing  the  first,  she  undertakes  its  hatching  at  once.  The  size, 
shape,  and  coloration  of  this  egg,  among  the  thousands  which  came  under  my  observation,  are  exceedingly  variable. 
A  large  proportion  of  the  eggs  become  so  dirty,  by  rolling  here  and  there  in  the  guano  while  the  birds  tread  and  fight 
over  them,  as  to  be  almost  unrecognizable.  I  was  struck  by  the  happy  adaptation  of  nature  to  their  rough  nesting; 
it  is  found  in  the  toughness  of  the  shell  of  the  egg — so  tough  that  the  natives,  when  gathering  them,  throw  them  as 
farmers  do  apples  into  their  tubs  and  baskets,  on  the  cliffs,  and  then  carry  them  down  to  the  general  heap  of 
collection  near  the  boats'  landing,  where  they  pour  them  out  upon  the  rocks  with  a  single  flip  of  the  hand,  just  as 
a  sack  of  potatoes  would  be  emptied;  and  then  again,  after  this,  they  are  quite  as  carelessly  handled  when  loaded 
into  the  "  bidarrah",  sustaining  through  it  all  a  very  trifling  loss  from  crashed  or  broken  ones. 

BIRD  ZONES  ON  WALRUS  ISLET. — Those  "  arries  "  seem  to  occupy  a  ribbon  in  width,  and  draw  around  the 
outward  edges  of  the  flat  table-top  to  Walrus  island  a  regular  belt,  keeping  all  to  themselves;  while  the  small 
grassy  interior  from  which  they  are  thus  excluded  is  the  only  place,  I  believe,  in  Bering  sea  where  the  great  white 
gull,  Larus  ylaucus,  breeds.  Here  I  found  among  the  little  mossy  tussocks  the  burgomaster  building  a  nest  of 
dry  grass,  sea  ferns,  Serttilarida;,  etc.,  very  nicely  laid  up  and  rounded,  and  in  which  it' laid  usually  three  eggs, 
sometimes  only  a  couple;  occasionally  I  would  look  into  a  nest  with  four.  These  big  birds  could  not  breed  on 
either  of  the  other  islands  in  this  manner,  for  the  glaucous  gull  is  too  large  to  settle  on  the  narrow  shelf  ledges  of 
the  dirts,  as  the  smaller  Laridw  and  other  water-fowls  do;  and  those  places  which  would  receive  it  might  also  be  a 
hunting-ground  and  footing  to  che  foxes. 

The  red-legged  kittiwake,  Larus  brevirostris,  and  its  cousin,  Larua  tridactylws,  build  in  the  most  amicable 
manner  together  on  the  faces  of  the  cliffs,  for  they  are  little  gulls,  and  they  associate  with  the  cormorants.  s:-a- 
parrots,  and  auks,  all  together;  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  latter,  the  nests  are  very  easy  of  access.  All  birds, 
especially  the  Carries",  have  an  exceedingly  happy  time  of  it  on  this  Walrus  islet — nothing  to  disturb  them,  in  my 
opinion — free  from  the  ravenous  maw  of  the  foxes  over  at  St.  Paul,  and  from  the  piratical  and  death-dealing 
sweep  of  owls  and  hawks,  which  infest  the  Aleutian  chain  and  the  mainland. 

SYSTEMATIC;  LIST  OF  THE  AVIFAUNA. — I  will  now  offer,  in  natural  sequence,  a  list  of  the  names  which  are 
to  be  seen  every  year  upon  the  ornithological  register  of  the  Pribylov  islands,  and  the  transient  ones,  also : 

1.  Turdus  migratorius.     ROBIN;  "EAP-O-LOOF." 

Casual,  and  rarely  seen ;  never  resident.     Specimen  secured  October,  1872. 

2.  Anorthura  troglodytes  var.  alascensis.     ALASKAN  WINTER  WREN;  "LIMMER-SHIN." 

This  wee  bird  is  not  migratory,  but  remains  permanently  upon  St.  George ;  its  nest  is  built  in  small,  deep  holes 
and  crevices  of  the  cliffs.  I  have  not  myself  seen  it,  but  the  natives  say  that  it  lays  from  eight  to  ten  eggs  in  a 
nest  made  of  dry  grass  and  feathers,  roofed  over,  with  an  entrance  at  the  side  to  the  nest-chamber,  being  thus 
elaborately  constructed. 

The  male  is  exceedingly  gay  during  the  period  of  mating  and  incubation,  flying  incessantly  from  plant  to 
plant, or  from  rock  to  rock,  and  singing  a  rather  loud  song  for  a  small  bird.  I  shot  the  young,  fully  fledged,  on  llie 
2Sth  of  July;  it  differed  only  from  the  parent  in  having  a  much  shorter  bill,  and  a  darker  and  more  diffuse 
coloration.  Although  St.  Paul  island  is  but  twenty-seven  miles  to  the  northwest,  as  the  crow  flies,  from  St.  George. 
not  a  single  specimen  of  this  little  wren  has  been  seen  there.  I  made,  during  the  whole  season  of  1872,  unavailing 
search  for  it. 

The  natives'  name,  " limmer-shin, "  signifies  a  chew  of  tobacco;  and,  as  the  bird  is  not  as  large  as  some  quids 
which  I  have  seen,  the  name  is  quite  appropriate,  fofthe  dull  brown  and  black  plumage  of  the  bird  suggests  it  also. 

3.  Leucosticte  tephrocotis  var.  griseinucha.     GRAV-KARED  FINCH;  "PAHTOSHKIE.  " 

This  agreeable  little  bird,  always  cheerful  and  self-possessed,  is  a  regular  and  permanent  settler  on  the  islands, 
which  it  never  leaves.  In  the. depth  of  dismal  winter,  as  well  as  in  the  halo  of  a  summer's  day.  the  palitosbkie 
greets  yon  with  the  same  pleasant  chirrup,  wearing  the  same  neat  dress,  as  if  determined  to  make  the  best  of 
everything.  It  is  particularly  abundant  on  St.  George,  where  its  habit  may  be  studied  to  great  advantage.  The 
pahtoshkie  nests  in  a  chink  or  crevice  of  the  cliffs,  building  a  warm,  snug  home  for  its  little  ones,  of  dried  grasses 
and  moss,  very  neatly  put  together,  and  then  lined  with  a  few  superfluous  leathers.  The  eggs  vary  in  number  from 


128  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

three  to  six;  there  generally  is  four.  They  are  pure  white  with  a  delicate  rosy  blush,  when  fresh,  and  measure 
0.97  by  0.07  of  an  inch.  The  young  break  the  shell  at  the  expiration  of  twenty  or  twenty-two  days'  incubation,  iho 
labor  of  which  is  not  shared  by  the  male;  he,  however,  brings  food  to  his  mate,  singing  as  most  birds  do  of  his 
kind,  highly  elated  by  the  prospects  of  paternity.  The  chicks,  at  first,  are  sparsely  covered  with  a  sprinkling  of 
dark  gray  down,  and  in  two  or  three  weeks  gain  their  feathers,  fitting  them  for  flight,  though  they  do  not  acquire 
the  ash  and  black  of  the  head,  while  the  chocolate-brown  on  the  back  is  rich,  and  the  rosy  tints  of  their  feather-tips 
turn  to  crimson.  These  bright  hues  of  adolescence  do  not  appear  until  they  are  one  year  old;  between  the  old 
birds,  however,  there  is  no  outward  dissimilarity  in  size  or  coloration,  the  male  and  female  being  exactly  alike. 
They  feed  upon  various  seeds  and  insects,  as  well  as  the  larva?  which  swarm  on  the  killing-grounds.  They  are 
fearless  and  confiding,  fluttering  in  the  most  familiar  manner  around  the  village  huts.  In  the  summer  of  1873  a 
pair  built  their  nest  and  reared  a  brood  under  the  eaves  of  the  old  Greek  church,  that  tottered  on  its  rotten 
foundations,  at  St.  George.  It  has  no  song,  but  utters  a  low,  mellow  chirp,  sounding  this  note  both  flying  ajid 
sitting,  in  the  same  cadence.  It  seems  to  pair  off  altogether  and  never  reassembles  in  flocks.  I  secured  a  lai •!;<>. 
number  of  beautiful  specimens  of  the  adults  of  both  sexes  in  neat  breeding  attire,  and  others  illustrating  the 
earliest  plumage  of  the  young. 

4.  Flectrophanes  iiivalis.    SNOW  BUNTING  ;  "  SNAGUISKIE." 

The  snow-bird  is  another  permanent  resident  of  these  islands,  but  one  which,  unlike  the  pahtoshkie,  you  will 
notice,  is  very  shy  and  retiring,  nesting  high  on  the  rocky,  broken  uplands,  never  coming  down  to  the  village, 
except  during  unusually  severe  or  protracted  cold  weather.  This  bird  builds  an  elegant  and  elaborate  nest  of  soft, 
dry  moss  and  grass,  and  lines  it  warmly  again  with  a  thick  bed  of  feathers.  It  is  placed  on  the  ground  beneath  some 
heavy  lava-shelf  or  at  the  foot  of  an  enormous  bowlder.  Five  eggs  are  usually  laid,  about  the  1st  of  June;  they 
are  an  inch  long  by  two-thirds  broad,  of  a  grayish  or  greenish  white,  spotted  sometimes  all  over,  sometimes  at  or 
around  the  larger  end. only,  with  various  shades  of  rich  dark-brown,  purplish-brown,  and  paler  neutral  tints. 
Sometimes  the  whole  surface  is  quite  closely  clouded  with  diffuse  reddish-brown  markings.  Upon  the  female  the 
entire  labor  of  the  three  weeks'  incubation  required  for  the  hatching  of  her  brood  devolves.  During  this  period  the 
male  is  assiduous  in  bringing  food;  and  at  frequent  intervals  sings  his  simple  but  sweet  song,  rising,  as  he  begins 
it,  high  up  in  the  air,  as  the  skylark  does,  and  at  the  end  of  the  strain  drops  suddenly  to  the  ground  again.  The 
young  are  early  provided  with  a  gray,  downy  coating,  which  is  speedily  replaced  by  one  resembling  that  of  the 
adult  female;  and,  in  less  than  four  weeks  from  the  date  of  hatching,  the  little  "snaguiskie"  is  as  big  as  its  parents 
and  weighs  more.  The  food  of  this  species  consists  of  the  various  seeds  and  insects  peculiar  to  the  rough,  higher 
grounds  it  frequents,  being  especially  fond  of  the  small  coleopterous  beetles  found  on  the  island.  It  never  Hies 
about  the  rocks  here,  and  cannot  be  called  at  any  season  of  the  year  gregarious,  like  its  immediate  relative,  the 
Lapland  lougspur,  with  which  it  is  associated  on  these  sea-girt  islets. 

5.  Flectrophanes  lapponicus.    LAPLAND  LONGSPUK;  "  KARESCII-NAVIE  SNAGUISKIE." 

This  bird  is  the  vocalist  par  excellence  of  the  Pribylov  group,  singing  all  through  the  month  of  June  in  the 
most  exquisite  manner,  rising  high  in  the  air  and  hovering  on  fluttering  wings  over  its  sitting  mate.  The  song  is 
so  sweet  that  it  is  always  too  short,  though  it  lasts  a  few  moments,  with  brief  intervals  only.  This  songster  is  much 
more  shy  and  reserved  than  the  common  snow-bunting;  and  it  rarely  enters  the  village.  It  is  most  abundant  on 
St.  Paul  island,  where,  unlike  the  snowflake,  it  seeks  the  low,  grassy  grounds,  both  for  food  and  resting,  being 
never  found  among  the  rough  bowlders  chosen  for  a  home  by  the  other  Plectrophanes.  The  two  nests,  which  I  found, 
were  built  in  tussocks  of  grass  on  the  low,  hummocky  flat  between  the  village  and  the  main  ridge  of  St.  George, 
sheltered  and  half  concealed  beneath  a  drapery  of  withered  grass.  In  each  case  the  mother-bird  did  not  fly  away 
till  I  almost  stepped  upon  her  nest,  when  she  quickly  fluttered  off  and  disappeared  in  perfect  silence.  Those  nests 
and  females  in  breeding  dress  were  the  first  of  their'  kind  to  arrive  at  the  Smithsonian  collection.  One  nest 
contained  four  and  the  other  five  eggs,  rather  smaller  than  the  snow-bunting,  and  of  a  rich,  gray -brown  color,  with 
deep  shades  of  brown  running  over  them  in  spots  and  suffused  lines.  These  examples  were  not  discovered  until  the 
7th  of  July,  at  which  date  the  eggs  in  both  were  perfectly  fresh.  They  were,  probably,  not  laid  until  about  the  end 
of  June.  The  young  appear  in  the  same  manner  as  those  of  P.  nivalis.  The  males  do  not  assume  the  distinctive 
coloration  of  their  sex  until  the  next  season.  The  natives  say  that  very  severe  weather  sometimes  drives  the 
lougspur  away,  although  the  other  relative,  the  snow-bunting,  is  never  forced  to  leave. 

6.  Corvus  corax.     RAVEN;  " VAU-KOXK." 

As  I  have  remarked  in  my  general  introduction,  the  experiment  of  introducing  ravens  was  unsuccessfully  tried 
by  the  Russians,  but  the  natives  still  claim  that  if  a  number  of  young  birds  were  brought  here  and  raised,  they 
could  be  induced  to  remain  upon  the  islands  during  the  whole  season.  They  say  that  the  failure  to  keep  those  birds 
brought  up  from  Oonalashka,  on  several  occasions  prior,  was  due  to  the  fact  of  their  being  old  birds. 

7.  Paloo  sacer.    GYRFALCON. 

The  specimen  of  this  bird,  in  my  collection,  was  evidently  stranded  and  forced  out  of  its  usual  flight  when  I 
secured  it  on  the  lleef  point  at  St.  Paul  island,  March,  1873.  It  was  the  only  one  that  I  saw  while  there. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  129 

8.  Charadrius  fulvua    GOLDEN  PLOVER. 

The  appearance  of  this  specimen  in  my  collection,  was  another  new  item  added  to  the  list  of  North  American 
birds,  since  it  is  the  first  American  specimen  of  the  true  Asiatic  fulrus,  and  not  the  North  American  var.  Virginicug. 
It  came  to  St.  Paul  as  a  wanderer  on  the  2d  of  May,  1873,  and  the  natives  told  me  that  it  was  a  frequent  visitor  in  that 
manner ;  a  few  stragglers  landing  in  April,  or  the  first  days  of  May,  and  passing  on  their  way  north,  never 
remaining  long.  They  return  in  greater  number,  however,  by  the  close  of  September,  and  grow  fat  upon  the  larvai 
generated  over  the  killing-grounds,  leaving  for  the  south  by  the  end  of  October. 

9.  Strepsilas  interpres.    TUBXSTONE;  "KRASS-XIE  KO-LJT-SKIE,"  or"KRAS8xiE  NOGIK." 

This  is  a  very  handsome  bird  when  in  full  plumage,  and  arrives  in  flocks  of  thousands  about  the  third  week  in 
July,  taking  its  departure  from  the  islands  along  by  the  10th  of  September.  It  does  not  breed  here,  and  it  comes, 
undoubtedly,  to  feed  upon  the  larvae  and  maggots  of  the  killing-grounds.  It  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  attractive 
of  plovers,  as  it  struts  and  marches  with  bright-red  legs  and  intense  black -banded  breast,  and  a  back  shaded  with 
brown  and  green  reflections.  I  am  at  a  loss  to  fix  its  breeding  place ;  I  have  met  with  it  at  sea  700  miles  from 
the  nearest  land,  flying  northwest  toward  the  Aleutian  islands,  my  ship  being  800  miles  west  from  the  straits  of  Fuca. 

10.  Lobipes  hyperboreus.    NORTHERN  PHALABOPK. 

A  few  couples  breed  on  the  islands,  nesting  around  the  margins  of  the  lakelets.  The  egg  I  was  unable  to  find, 
but  I  secured  several  newly-hatched  young  ones,  which  were  very  interesting  little  creatures.  They  are  only  two 
or  three  inches  long,  with  bill  about  a  third  of  an  inch  in  length,  and  no  thicker  than  an  ordinary  dressing-pin. 
The  down  of  the  head,  neck,  and  upper  parts  is  a  rich  brownish  yellow,  variegated  with  black,  the  crown  being 
of  this  color  mixed  with  yellow,  and  a  long  stripe  extends  down  the  back,  flanked  with  one  over  each  hip,  and 
another  across  the  rump,  and  a  shoulder  spot  on  each  side.  The  under  parts  are  a  grayish,  silvery  white.  The 
old  bird,  when  startled  or  solicitous  for  the  safety  of  its  young,  utters  a  sonorous  "tweet"  call,  quickly  repeated, 
with  long  intervals  of  silence  between  them. 

11.  Phalaropus  fulicarius.    RED  PHALAHOPE. 

Though  I  found  this  bird  very  much  more  abundant  than  the  preceding  species  at  certain  times,  yet  I  am 
satisfied  that  it  does  not  breed  here.  It  is  found,  like  the  other,  by  the  marshy  margins  of  the  pools  and  ponds, 
usually  solitary,  though  paired  occasionally,  but  never  in  flocks.  The  earliest  arrivals  occur  in  June,  but  the  birds 
reappear  in  greatest  number  about  the  15th  of  August.  They  all  leave  by  the  5th  of  October. 

12.  Tringa  ptilocnemis.    THICK-BILLED  SAXD-PIPKR.     "  KO-LITS-KIE." 

The  most  interesting  result,  in  some  respects,  of  my  ornithological  work,  is  the  determination  by  my  specimens 
of  the  occurrence  of  this  species  in  abundance  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  where  it  breeds.  That  discovery  adds  a 
species,  previously  unrecognized  as  North  American,  to  our  fauna.  As  a  long,  elaborate,  and  graphic  description  of 
the  bird,  based  upon  my  collections,  was  made  by  Dr.  Elliott  Coues,*  when  he  reviewed  my  labor  on  these  islands, 
1  shall  not  duplicate  it  here;  but  I  wish  to  give  him  credit  for  his  prompt  recognition  of  the  novelty;  and  in  this 
connection  let  me  add,  that  in  1874  I  saw  it  just  as  abundantly  on  St.  Matthew  island.  I  should  say,  it  is  the  only 
wader  that  incubates  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  with  the  marked  exception  of  a  stray  couple  now  and  then  of  Pliataropm 
Injperboreus.  It  makes  its  appearance  early  in  May,  and  repairs  to  the  dry  uplands  and  mossy  hummocks,  where  it 
breeds.  The  nest  is  formed  by  the  selection  of  a  particular  cryptogamic  bunch,  and  there  setting.  It  lays  four 
darkly  blotched  pyrifonn  eggs,  and  hatches  them  within  twenty  days.  The  young  come  from  the  shell  in  a  thick, 
yellowish  down,  with  dark  browu  markings  on  the  head  and  back,  getting  the  plumage  of  their  parents  and  taking 
to  wing  as  early  as  the  10th  of  August ;  at  this  season  old  and  young  flock  together  for  the  first  time,  and  confine 
themselves  to  the  sand-beaches  and  surf-margins  about  the  islands  for  a  few  weeks,  when  they  take  flight  by  the  1st  or 
5th  of  September,  and  disappear  until  the  opening  of  the  new  season.  It  is  a  most  devoted  and  fearless  parent,  and 
will  nutter  in  feigned  distress  around  by  the  hour,  uttering  a  low,  piping  note,  should  one  approach  near  to  its  nest. 
It  makes  a  sound  ridiculously  like  the  cry  of  our  tree-frogs,  and  I  searched  in  consequeuce  unavailingly  for  several 
weeks,  deceived  by  the  call  of  this  bird,  lor  the  presence  of  such  a  reptile.t 

*  Condition  of  Affair*  in  Alaska:  H.  W.  Elliott:  1874,  p.  1«2. 

tAYlien  I  was  collecting  this  bird,  I  took  it  to  be  a  well-defined  Tringa  marUima  ;  and  did  not  suppose  for  an  instant,  that  it  was  an 
nudescribed  species  to  the  avifauna  of  both  the  old  world  and  the  new.  Had  I  thought  seriously  of  it,  however,  I  might  have  had  iny 
suspicions  aroused  then,  and  hence  given  it  still  more  attention,  so  that  my  large  series  of  specimens  might  have  embraced  the  autumn  or 
perfected  fall  plumage  ;  and,  I  would  also  have  si-cured  many  nests,  rather  than  the  single  one  which  I  did  get.  My  old  friend,  Dr.  Elliott 
Coues,  was  the  first  to  discover  the  originality  of  this  new  sand-piper,  though  he  was  very  closely  followed  by  that  excellent  authority  on 
Limicoline  birds,  J.  E.  Harting,  F.  L.  S..  ete  ,  of  London,  to  whom  Professor  Baird  sent  one  of  my  specimens  of  1872.  also,  thinking  it  to 
be  T.  marilima.  A  curious  fact,  however,  is  the  remarkably  restricted  range  which  this  strongly-built  bird  enjoys  in  Alaska  ;  it  has  been, 
seen  nowhere  except  on  these  Pribylov  islands  and  on  St.  Matthew,  200  miles  to  the  north  of  them;  where,  in  1£74,  I  saw  large,  numbers, 
breeding  as  they  do  here.  I  did  not  see  one  on  St.  Lawrence,  again  to  the  northward,  1^0  miles  from  St.  Matthew  island,  and  it  h.is 
never  been  detected  on  the  mainland,  or  the  islands  of  the  Aleutian  chain,  the  peninsula,  or  northwest  coast,  inclusive,  although  that 
country  has  been  scoured  over  thoroughly  by  naturalists  ami  collectors  during  the  last  liliecn  years;  therefore  unless  it  is  found  and 
winters  on  the  large  islands  of  the  Commander  group,  TOO  miles  to  the  westward  of  the  Prilylovs.  I  believe  that  its  restriction  as  above 
defined  is  only  paralleled  by  the  square  mile  limit  of  distribution  peculiar  to  several  species  of  South  American  humming  birds. 
" 


130  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

13.  Iiimosa  uropygialis.    WHITE-RUMPED  GODWIT. 

This  wader  is  a  mere  chance  visitor,  never  breeding  here.  It  comes  in  a  straggling  manner,  early  in  May,  and 
passes  northward  over  the  islands,  hardly  stopping  on  the  way.  It  reappears,  toward  the  end  of  August,  going 
south,  in  flocks  of  a  dozen  to  fifty,  making  then,  as  before,  scarcely  an  appreciable  visit. 

14.  Heteroscelus  incanus.    WANDERING  TATTLER. 

This  bird  is  also  migratory,  and  does  not  breed  here.  It  comes  every  year  early  in  June,  and  subsequently 
reappears  toward  the  end  of  July,  when  I  again  observed  it.  It  may  be  obtained  on  the  rocky  beaches,  where  it 
flits  at  the  surf-wash,  shy  and  quiet. 

15.  Numenius  borealis.    ESKIMO  CURLEW. 

I  never  saw  but  the  single  specimen,  which  I  shot  and  preserved,  on  the  seal-islands  while  up  there;  but  the 
natives  assured  me  that  some  years,  and  quite  often,  it  appears  in  large  flocks  during  the  fall.  This  one  was 
procured  by  me  in  June,  1872,  on  St.  Paul  island. 

16.  Philacte  canagica.    EMPEROR  GOOSK. 

This  goose  of  the  great  Yukon  river  gets  over  here  by  mistake,  I  fancy,  for  the  flock  of  which  I  witnessed 
the  capture,  landed  on  St.  Paul  island  so  exhausted,  that  the  natives  ran  the  birds  down  in  open  chase  over  the 
grass.  I  found  the  flesh  of  Philacta,  contrary  to  report,  free  from  any  unpleasant  flavor,  and  in  fact  very  good. 
The  objectionable  quality  is  only  skin  deep,  and  may  be  got  rid  of  by  the  least  care,  when  the  cook  prepares  it  for 
the  table. 

17.  Branta  canadensis.    WHITE-COLLARED  GOOSE;  "  CHORNIE  GOOSE." 

This  species,  like  the  former,  seems  to  be  a  mere  straggler  and  irregular  visitor,  evidently  driven  by  high  winds 
to  rest  here  for  a  brief  period,  ere  they  resume  their  customary  lines  of  migration  along  the  mainland. 

18.  Anas  boschas.    MALLARD  DUCK. 

A  pair  of  these  fine  birds  bred  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul  during  the  season  of  1872,  at  Polavina  lake,  and 
several  were  observed  later  in  the  fall.  The  mallard  I  also  noticed  on  St.  George  island,  but  the  natives  say  it  is 
not  a  regular  visitor. 

19.  Mareca  penelope.    WIDGEON. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact,  that  this  widgeon,  as  my  specimens  attest,  which  visits  the  Pribylov  islands,  is  not  M. 
americana,  as  might  be  anticipated,  but  it  is  the  true  M.  penelope.  I  saw  only  a  few  specimens,  and  saw  them 
rarely.  They  were  solitary  examples,  never  in  pairs,  and  it  does  not  breed  on  the  islands;  apparently  the  few 
individuals,  which  I  noted  during  two  years  of  observation,  were  wind-bound  or  estray. 

20.  Harelda  glacialis.    LONG-TAILED  DUCK;  "  SAAFKA." 

This  noisy,  chattering  example  is  common  and  resident.  It.  appears  everywhere  on  the  pools,  ponds,  sloughs, 
and  lakes  of  the  two  islands ;  in  limited  numbers,  however.  The  tiaafka  is  a  very  lively  bird,  particularly  in  the 
spring,  when  with  the  breaking  up  of  the  ice  it  flies  into  the  open  reaches  of  water,  and  raises  its  peculiar,  sonorous, 
and  reiterated  cry  of  ah-naah-nadh-yah,  which  rings  cheerfully  upon  the  ear  after  the  silence  and  desolate  dearth  of 
an  ice-l»ouud  winter. 

21.  Histrionicus  torquatus.     HARLEQUIN  DUCK. 

My  experience  with  this  bird  is  radically  different  from  another  writer,  he  stating  that  it  is  an  essentially  solitary 
species,  found  alone  or  in  pairs,  only  in  the  most  retired  spots,  on  the  small  rivers  flowing  into  the  Yukon,  where  it 
breeds.*  It  is  the  most  gregarious  of  all  the  duck  tribe  known  to  these  islands;  flocks  of  a  hundred,  closely  bunched 
together,  may  be  found  at  every  turn  by  the  traveler  on  the  coast ;  nor  is  it  particularly  wild  or  shy,  for  every  morning 
at  St.  George,  whenever  I  chose  to  walk  to  the  water's  edge  beneath  the  village,  and  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
distant,  I  could  have  a  shot  at  fifty  or  a  hundred  of  these  birds,  just  as  1  had  enjoyed  such  an  opportunity  in  the  early 
dawning  previously ;  but  it  is  a  remarkably  silent  bird,  aud  from  it  I  never  heard  any  cry  whatever  during  the  whole 
year;  for  it  is  about  the  island,  unless  the  ice  drives  it  away,  throughout  that  entire  period.  It  is  a  very  social  duck, 
solitary  pairs  never  being  seen  away  from  the  flock.  The  females  seem  to  outnumber  the  males  two  to  one;  but,  the 
strangest  thing  about  it  was  my  total  inability,  aud  that  of  the  natives,  too — for  I  offered  an  inordinate  reward — to 
find  its  eggs  or  nest.  It  must  breed  about  here,  but  whether  deep  iu  the  rock  interstices  of  the  beach  shingle,  or 
flying  by  night  to  the  high  ridges  inland,  I  am  ignorant. 

22.  Somateria  Stelleri.     STKLLKR'S  EIDKR. 

From  the  village  hill  at  St.  Paul,  in  May,  1872,  I  shot  two  specimens  of  this  duck,  and  then  not  knowing  as 
much  about  the  seal-island  cats  as  I  speedily  learned  thereafter,  the  fresh  stuffed  specimens  were  literally  torn  into 
a  thousand  fragments  by  these  abominable  felines.  It  is,  as  I  did  not  see  it  afterward  during  my  residence  on  the 
group,  a  straggler,  aud  nothing  more. 

23.  Graculus  bicristatus.    KRD-KACKD  CORMORANT;  "OREEL." 

As  this  bird  of  Pallas  is  found  about  the  islands  during  the  whole  winter  as  well  as  the  summer,  despite  the 
weather,  perched  on  the  sheltered  bluffs,  the  natives  regard  it  with  a  species  of  affection,  for  it  furnishes  the  only 

"2'rans.  Chicago  Acad.,  i,  298. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  131 

supply  tboy  can  draw  upon  for  fresh  meat,  soups,  and  stews,  always  wanted  by  the  sick;  and,  were  these  shags 
sought  after  throughout  the  year  near  as  diligently  as  they  are  during  the  long  spell  of  bitter  temperature  that  occurs 
here  in  severe  winters,  driving  other  water-fowl  away,  they  certainly  would  be  speedily  exterminated ;  yet,  they  are 
seldom. shot,  however,  when  anything  else  can  be  obtained.  The  terrible  storms  in  February  and  March,  when  the 
wind  "  boorgas"  blow  as  tornadoes,  are  unable  to  drive  the  shag  away,  but  all  other  water-fowl,  even  the  big  northern 
gulls,  depart  for  the  open  water  south.  It  comes  under  the  cliffs  to  make  its  nest  and  lay — the  earliest  of  the  birds 
in  Bering  sea.  Two  eggs  were  taken  from  a  bed  on  the  reef,  St.  Paul  island,  June  1,  1872,  nearly  hatched,  which 
is  more  than  three  weeks  in  advance  of  the  other  water-fowls,  almost  without  exception.  The  nest  is  large,  carefully 
rounded  up,  and  built  upon  some  jutting  point  or  narrow  shelf  along  the  face  of  a  cliff  or  bluff;  in  its  construction 
sea-ferns  (Sertularidw},  grass,  etc.,  are  used,  together  with  a  cement  made  largely  of  their  own  excrement. 

The  eggs  are  usually  three  in  number,  sometimes  four,  and,  compared  with  the  size  of  the  bird,  are  exceedingly 
small.  They  are  oval,  of  a  dirty,  whitish  gray,  green,  and  blue  color,  but  soon  become  soiled ;  for,  although  this 
bird's  plumage  is  sleek  and  bright,  yet  it  is  very  slovenly  and  filthy  about  the  nest — the  dirtiest  bird  of  all  the  north 
when  we  regard  its  domestic  economy.  The  young  come  from  the  shell  at  the  expiration  of  three  weeks'  incubation, 
wi  thout  feathers  and  almost  bare,  even  of  down  ;  they  grow,  however,  rapidly,  fed  by  the  old  birds,  who  eject  the 
contents  of  their  stomachs,  such  as  small  fish,  crabs,  and  shrimps,  all  over  and  around  the  nest.  In  about  six  weeks 
the  young  cormorant  can  take  to  its  wings,  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  then  fully  as  large  and  heavy  as  the 
parents;  but  it  is  not  until  the  beginning  of  its  second  year  that  it  shimmers  out  in  the  bright  plumage  and  metallic 
gloss  of  the  adult,  wearing,  during  the  first  year  of  probation,  a  dull,  dingy,  drab-brown  coat,  with  the  brilliant  red 
colors  at  the  base  of  the  bill,  and  gular  sac,  subdued. 

This  cormorant  is  a  stupid  and  very  inquisitive  bird.  It  utters  no  sound  whatever,  except  when  flying  over, 
about,  or  around  a  boat  or  ship,  which  seems  to  possess  a  magnetic  power  of  attraction  for  them.  When  they  are 
thus  hovering  and  circling  aloft  in  this  method,  they  utter  a  low,  droning  croak.  It  cannot  be  called  a  bird  of 
graceful  action  at  any  place,  either  on  the  wing,  in  the  sea,  or  perched.  Its  flight  is  a  quick  beating  of  the  wing*, 
which  are  usually  more  or  less  ragged  at  the  edge,  with  the  neck  and  head  stretched  out  full  length  horizontal  to 
the  axis  of  the  body.  So  curious  is  it,  that  in  flying,  around  and  around  again  to  satisfy  itself,  it  comes  close  enough 
for  an  observer,  should  he  stand  erect  in  the  bow  of  a  boat,  almost  to  touch  it  with  his  hand.  It  is  very  dirty  on 
the  rocks,  and  does  not  keep  its  nest  in  tidy  trim  like  the  gulls ;  but,  in  regard  to  its  plumage,  I  frankly  confess 
that  I  have  sat  for  long  intervals  near  a  shelf  whereupon  fifteen  or  twenty  of  these  birds  were  resting,  absorbed  in 
true  admiration  of  the  brilliant  gloss  and  glittering  sheen  of  their  feathers;  their  coats  really  scintillate  when  in  the 
sunlight  with  a  confused  blending  of  rich  brownish  and  deep  purple  reflections,  as  though  clothed  in  steel  armor 
beautifully  damascened. 

24.  Diomedea  brachyura.    SHOUT-TAILED  ALBATROSS. 

This  bird  was  the  only  real  suggestion  which  arose  to  my  mind,  during  my  sojonrn  on  the  Pribylovs,  of  the 
past  epoch  of  noted  activity  in  the  whale  fisheries  of  the  Xorth  Pacific  and  the  Arctic;  for,  as  I  first  discerned  tlie 
large  bulk  and  spread  of  the  albatross  prior  to  shooting,  the  natives  clapped  their  hands  and  said,  "You  should 
have  been  here  twenty  years  ago  when,  instead  of  this  solitary  example,  you  would  have  seen  thousands."  They 
came  with  the  whalers,  and  disappeared,  as  they  had  done ;  but,  as  if  prompted  by  legends  among  their  kind,  now 
and  then  an  adventurous  one  comes  north  again  and  looks  in  vain  for  its  whale  food,  or  the  skinned  carcasses 
rather,  turned  adrift  by  the  whalemen;  they  were  in  sight  of  the  island  constantly,  year  in  and  year  out,  during 
that  period  of  great  whaling  industry.  The  bird  just  cited,  and  this  one  only,  was  a  solitary  example  of  its  kind 
observed  by  me.  Two  hundred  miles  to  the  southward,  however,  it  is  quite  frequent  about  the  Aleutian  islands. 

25.  Fulmarus  glacialis.     RODGER'S  FULMAR;  "  LUPUS." 

This  is  the  only  representative  of  the  Procellarince  I  have  seen  on  or  about  the  Pribylov  islands.  It  repairs  to  the 
cliffs,  especially  on  the  south  and  east  shores  of  St.  George ;  comes  very  early  in  the  season,  and  selects  some  rocky 
shelf,  secure  from  all  enemies  save  man,  where,  making  no  nest  whatever,  but  squatting  on  the  rock  itself,  it  lays  a 
single,  large,  white,  oblong-oval  egg,  and  imuiediaiely  commences  the  duty  aud  the  labor  of  incubation.  It  is  of  all 
the  water  fowl  the  most  devoted  to  its  charge,  for  it  will  hot  be  scared  from  the  egg  by  any  demonstration  that  may 
be  made  in  the  way  of  throwing  rocks  or  yelling,  aud  it  will  even  die  as  it  sits  rather  than  take  flight,  as  I  have 
frequently  witnessed.  The  fulmar  lays  about  the  1st  to  the  5th  of  June.  The  egg  is  very  palatable,  fully  equal  to 
that  of  our  domestic  duck  ;  indeed,  it  is  somewhat  like  it.  The  natives  prize  them  highly,  and  hence  they  undertake 
at  St.  George  to  gather  their  eggs  by  a  method  and  a  suspension  supremely  hazardous,  as  they  lower  themselves 
over  cliffs  five  to  seven  hundred  i'eet  above  the  water.  The  sensation  experienced  by  myself,  when  dangled  over 
these  precipices  attached  to  a  slight  thong  of  raw-hide,  with  the  surf  boiling  and  churning  three  or  four  hundred  feet 
below,  and  loose  rocks  rattling  down  from  above,  any  one  of  which  was  snflicieiit  to  destroy  life  should  it  have 
struck  me,  is  not  a  sensation  to  be  expressed  adequately  by  language;  and,  after  having  passed  through  the 
ordeal,  I  came  to  the  surface  perfectly  satisfied  witli  what  I  had  called  the  improvidence  of  the  Aleuts.  They 
have  quite  sufficient  excuse  in  my  mind  to  be  content  with  as  few  fulmar  eggs  as  possible.*  The  "  Lupus",  laying  so 

*0n  the  head  at  Tolstoi  Mees,  St.  George,  the  natives  poiutrd  on:  to  me  a  basaltic  egg  shelf  which  marked  the  death"  of  cue  of  their 
townsmen.  It  occurred  iu  the  following  singular  manner:  he  the  victim,  had  been  very  successful  in  securing  a  large  basket  of  the 


132  THE  'FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

early  as  the  1st  of  June,  is  the  only  rival  that  the  cormorant  has  with  reference  to  early  incubation.  It  never  flies  in 
flocks;  it  pairs  early,  and  is  then  exceedingly  quiet.  I  have  never  heard  it  utter  a  sound,  save  a  low,  droning  croak 
when  disgorging  food  for  its  young.  The  chick  comes  out  a  perfect  puff-ball  of  white  down,  and  gains  its  first 
plumage  iu  about  six  weeks.  It  is  a  dull,  gray -black  at  first,  but  by  the  end  of  the  season  it  becomes  like  the  parents 
in  coloration,  only  much  darker  on  the  back  and  scapularies.  They  are  the  least  edible,  with  the  exception  of  the 
cormorant,  of  all  bird-food  found  about  the  islands;  aud,  like  others  of  their  family,  they  vomit  up  the  putrid 
contents  of  their  stomachs  at  the  slightest  provocation. 

26.  Stercorarius  pomatorhinua.    POMAUINE  JAGER;  "  EAZ-BOI-NIK." 

This  bird  is  a  rare  visitor,  and  is  the  only  specimen  which  I  procured,  aud  was  the  sole  representative  seen  on 
the  islands  of  its  class.  I  found  it  perched  in  a  listless  attitude  on  the  high  mossy  uplands  between  Kamininista 
and  Polavina  Sopka. 

27.  Stercorarius  parasiticus.    PARASITIC  JAGER. 

I  have  seen  but  a  few  of  these  birds,  also ;  the  four  or  five  examples  of  this  species,  in  my  collection,  were  all 
that  I  sighted,  therefore  it  may  be  rated  as  an  infrequent  visitor;  it  seems  to  be  tired  out,  and  is  found  upon  the 
grassy  uplands,  where  it  will  alight  and  stand  dozing  in  an  indolent  attitude  for  hours.  The  natives  say  that  it  is 
fond  of  the  berries  of  the  Empetrum,  and  in  confirmation  of  their  statement  I  found  the  half-digested  remains  of  this 
fruit  therein.  No  one  of  the  three  species  of  Stercorarius,  which  I  have  iu  my  hands,  was  observed  to  breed  here. 

28.  Stercorarius  Buffcni.    LONG-TAILED  JAGER. 

Also  seldom  seen,  and  the  specimen  in  my  collection  is  one  of  t'ue  only  two  I  ever  observed  on  the  islands. 
When  I  discovered  them,  July  29,  1872,  they  were  apparently  feeding  upon  iusects  aud  the  fruit  of  the  Empetrum 
nigrum. 

29.  Larus  glaucus.    BURGOMASTER:  "CuiKiE." 

This  large,  handsome  gull,  the  finest  of  its  race,  is  restricted  in  its  breeding  to  Walrus  islet  alone;  although  it 
comes  sailing  over  and  around  all  the  islands,  in  easy,  graceful  flight,  every  hour  of  the  day,  and  frequeiitly  late  in 
the  fall  will  settle  down  by  hundreds  upon  the  carcasses  of  the  killing-grounds.  But,  at  Walrus  islet  this  bird  is 
at  home,  and  here  lays  its  eggs  in  neat  nests  built  of  sea-ferns  and  dry  grass,  placed  among  the  turfy  tussocks  on 
the  center  of  the  islet.  No  foxes  are  found  there.  It  remains  by  the  Pribylov  islands  during  the  whole  season, 
though  it  is  sometimes  driven  by  the  ice  in  search  of  open  water,  fifty  to  one  hundred  miles  south ;  it  invariably 
returns  soon  after  the  floe  disappears. 

The  "chikie"  lays  as  early  as  the  1st  to  the  4th  of  June,  depositing. three  eg^s  only,  within  a  week  or  ten 
days.  These  eggs  are  large,  spherically  oval,  have  a  dark,  grayish-brown  ground,  with  irregular  patches  of  darker 
brown-black.  They  vary  somewhat  in  size,  but  the  shape  and  pattern  of  coloring  is  more  constant  than  in  any 
other  species  up  here. 

The  young  burgomaster  comes  from  the  shell  at  the  expiration  of  the  regular  three  weeks'  incubation,  wearing  a 
pure  white  thick  coat  of  fluffy  down,  which  is  speedily  supplanted  by  a  brownish-black  and  gray  plumage  with 
which  the  bird  takes  flight,  having  nearly  attained  the  size  of  the  parent  in  less  than  six  aggregate  weeks.  This 
dark  coat  changes  during  the  next  three  months  to  one  nearly  white,  with  the  lavender  gray  back  of  the  adult;  the 
legs  change  from  a  sickly,  pale,  grayish  tone,  to  the  rich  yellow-gray  of  the  mature  condition,  and  the  bill  also 
passes  from  a  dull  brown  color  to  a  bright  yellow,  with  a  red  spot  at  the  top  of  the  lower  mandible*  It  has  a  loud, 
shrill,  eagle-like  scream,  becoming  more  monotonous  by  its  repetition  ;  and  it  also  utters  a  low,  chattering  croak 
while  coasting.  It  is  a  very  cleanly  bird  about  its  nest,  and  keeps  its  plumage  in  a  condition  of  snowy  purity.  It 
is  not  very  numerous;  I  do  not  think  that  there  were  more  than  five  or  six  hundred  nesting  on  Walrus  islet  at  the 
time  of  my  visit  in  1872. 

30.  Larus  tridactylus  va-r.  Kotzebui.    PACIFIC  KITTIWAKE;  "CHORXIE-NAUSHKIE  GOVEROOSKIE." 

This  gull  breeds  here,  by  tens  of  thousands,  iu  company  with  its  first  cousin,  Larus  brerirostris,  coming  at  the  same 
time  but  laying  a  week  or  ten  days  earlier  than  its  relative.  In  all  other  respects  it  corresponds  in  habit  and  is  in 
just  about  the  same  number.  It  is  a  remarkably  constant  bird  in  plumage  coloration  when  adult,  for  I  have  failed 
to  observe  the  slightest  variation  among  the  great  numbers  here  under  my  notice.  In  building  its  nest  it  uses  more 
grass  and  less  mud-cement  than  the  brecirostris  does.  The  eggs  are  more  pointed  at  the  small  end  and  lighter  in 
the  ground  color,  with  numerous  splotches  of  dark  brown.  The  chick  is  difficult  to  distinguish  with  certainty  from 
the  brecirostris,  aud  it  is  not  until  two  or  three  weeks  have  passed  that  auy  difference  can  be  noted  between  (hem 
as  to  the  length  of  bill  and  color  of  feet. 

eggs  of  tho  season,  and,  desiring  to  continue  tho-day's  work,  dispatched  his  wife  back  to  the  village  with  the  oological  burden,  so  that  the 
basket  might  be  emptied  ;  meanwhile,  in  her  absence,  ho  put  his  little  tethering-stake  down  anew,  aud,  tying  the  rope  of  walrus  or  sea-lion 
hide  to  it,  dropped  over  the  brow  of  the  cliff  on  it.  A  gaunt  fox,  which  had  been  watching  the  proceedings,  now  ran  up  and  fell  to 
({iiawing  the  rope,  so  taut  aud  tense,  with  the  weight  of  the  suspended  egg-hunter  below;  the  sharp  teeth  of  Reynard,  under  the 
circumstances,  instantly  severed  it,  and  the  unfortunate  native  was  dashed  to  the  rocky  shingle  some  400  feet  below,  where  his  lifeless 
body  was  soon  discovered.  The  poor  fellow  lost  his  life  by  having,  at  some  earlier  hour  of  the  day,  rubbed  his  yolk-smeared  hands  upon 
tho  sinewy  strands,  for  at  that  place  only  did  the  hungry  fox  attack  them. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  133 

31.  Larns  brevirostris.    RED-LEGGED  KITTEIWAK;  "GovEROOSKin." 

This  beautiful  gull  is  one  of  the  most  elegant  of  all  birds  on  the  wing,  and  is,  perhaps,  as  handsome  as  any  known  to 
the  sight,  when  it  rests;  it  seems  to  delight  in  favoring  these  islands  with  its  presence,  to  the  exclusion  of  other  land, 
coming  here  by  tens  of  thousands  to  breed.  Certain  it  is  that  my  specimens  testify  to  its  special  abundance,  and  that 
it  is  by  far  the  most  attractive  of  ail  of  its  kind;  the  short,  symmetrical  bill,  large  hazel  eye  with  crimson  lids,  and 
rich  coral  or  vermilion-red  legs  and  feet,  contrast  beautifully  with  the  snowy- white  plumage  of  its  head,  neck, 
lavender  back,  and  under  parts. 

Like  Larus  gla ucits, 'this  bird  remains  about  the  islands  during  the  whole  season,  coming  on  the  cliffs  for  the 
purpose  of  nest-building,  breeding  by  the  9th  of  May  and  deserting  the  bluffs  when  the  birds  are  fully  fledged  and 
ready  for  flight,  early  in  October.  It  is  much  more  prudent  and  cautious  than  the  auks  and  the  murres,  for  its 
nests  are  always  placed  on  nearly  inaccessible  shelves  and  points  of  mural  walls,  so  that  seldom  cau  one  be  reached, 
unless  a  person  is  lowered  down  to  it  by  a  rope  passed  over  the  cliff. 

Nest-building  is  commenced  early  in  May,  and  completed,  generally,  not  much  before  the  1st  of  July ;  it  uses  dry 
grass  and  moss  cemented  with  mud,  which  it  gathers  at  the  fresh-water  pools  and  ponds  scattered  over  the  islands. 
The  nest  is  solidly  and  neatly  put  up;  the  parents  work  together  in  its  construction  most  diligently  and  amiably. 
Two  eggs  are  the  usual  number,  although  occasionally  three  will  be  found  in  the  nest.  If  these  eggs  are  removed 
the  female  will  renew  them  like  the  "arrie",  in  the  course  of  another  week  or  ten  days.  They  are  of  the  size  and 
shape  of  a  common  hen's  egg,  but  covered  with  a  dark  gray  ground  spotted  and  blotched  with  sepia  patches.  Once 
in  a  while  an  egg  will  have  on  the  smaller  end  a  large  number  of  suffused  blood-red  spots.  Both  parents  assist  in 
the  labor  of  incubation,  which  lasts  a  trifle  longer  than  the  usual  time — from  twenty -four  to  twenty -six  days.  The 
chick  comes  out  with  a  pure  white  downy  coat,  a  pale  whitish-gray  bill  and  feet,  and  rests  helplessly  in  the  nest 
until  its  feathers  grow.  During  this  period  it  is  a  comical-looking  object.  The  natives  capture  them,  now  and  then, 
to  make  pets  of,  always  having  a  number  every  year  scattered  through  the  village,  usually  tied  by  one  leg  to  a. 
stake  at  the  doors  of  their  houses,  where  they  become  very  tame ;  and,  it  is  not  until  fall,  when  cold  weather  sets  in, 
that  they  become  restless  and  willingly  leave  their  captivity  for  the  freedom  of  the  air.  This  bird  is  remarkably 
constant  in  its  specific  characters.  Among  the  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  them,  I  have  never  observed 
any  variation  in  the  coloration  of  the  bills,  feet,  or  plumage  of  the  mature  birds,  with  one  exception.  This  is  a 
variety,  seldom  seen,  however,  in  which  the  feet  are  nearly  yellow,  or  much  more  yellow  than  red,  and  the  edge  of 
the  eyelid  is  black  instead  of  being  normally  scarlet;  there  is  also  a  dark  patch  back  of  each  eye  in  these  odd 
specimens.  The  abnormal  color  of  the  feet  is,  probably,  due  to  sheer  accidental  individual  peculiarity,  while  the 
eye-patch  and  absence  of  bright  color  from  the  eyelids  may  depend  upon  the  season. 

32..  Colymbus  arcticus.    BLACK-THROATED  DIVER. 

When  surveying  Zapaduie,  July,  1873,  in  measuring  my  angles  on  the  beach,  I  came  across  the  form  of  this 
bird,  thrown  up,  nearly  dead,  by  the  surf,  under  my  feet.  It  is  the  only  one  I  have  seen  upon  the  islands,  and 
I  called  the  attention  of  the  old  wiseacres  of  the  village  to  it.  Whereupon,  after  much  deliberation  and  guttural 
Aleutian  vocalization,  they  informed  me  that  they  had  never  noticed  it  before  around  the  island,  though  one  aged 
man  declared  to  the  contrary,  and  submitted  his  minority  report  with  great  emphasis  and  much  gravity.  At  all 
events,  it  is  seldom  seen  here.  The  bird  in  question  was  a  fine  adult  specimen,  and  it  is  interesting  to  observe  that 
it  is  the  true  Colymbus  arcticus  and  not  var.  pacificus,  which  might  naturally  have  been  expected. 

33.  Podiceps  griseigeua.     RED-.VECKKD  GREBE. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  diver  above  cited,  the  present  specimen  is  a  typical  form  rather  than  a  North  American 
variety.  It  was  the  only  specimen  seen  during  my  residence  on  the  island.  It  has,  however,  been  observed  by  the 
natives  heretofore,  though  they  affirm  that  it  is  uncommon;  also,  a  straggler,  in  my  opinion. 

34.  Fratercula  corniculata.    HORNED  PUFFIN;  "  EPATKA." 

My  first  impression  when  I  saw  one  of  these  odd-looking  birds,  with  its  large  shovel-like,  lemon-yellow  and  red 
bill,  as  it  sat  squatted  in  glum  silence  on  the  rocky  cliff  perches,  was  one  of  great  amusement,  and  it  stared  back  at 
me  in  stolid  wonder  as  I  laughed.  Of  all  birds  in  these  latitudes,  it  seems  to  have  been  fashioned  with  a  special 
regard  to  the  fantastic  and  ludicrous.  This  mormon,  in  common  with  one  other  species,  AT.  cirrhata,  comes  up  from 
the  sea  in  the  south  to  the  cliffs  of  the  islands  about  the  10th  of  May,  always  in  pairs,  never  coming  singly  to,  or 
going  away  from,  the  Pribylovs  in  flocks.  It  makes  a  nest  of  dried  sea-ferns,  grass,  and  moss,  slovenly  laid  together, 
far  back  in  some  deep  or  rocky  crevice,  where,  when  the  egg  is  laid,  it  is  ninety-nine  times  out  of  a  hundred  cases, 
in  accessible;  nothing  but  blasting-powder  would  open  a  passage  to  it  for  man.  It  has  this  peculiarity:  it  is  the 
only  bird  on  these  islands  which  seems  to  quarrel  forever  and  ever  with  its  mate.  The  hollow  reverberations  of  its 
anger,  scolding,  and  vituperation  from  the  nuptial  chamber,  are  the  most  characteristic  sounds,  and  indeed  the  only 
ones  that  come  from  the  recesses  of  the  rocks.  No  sympathy  need  be  expended  on  the  female.  She  is  just  as  big  and 
just  as  violent  as  her  lord  and  master.  The  nest  contains  but  a  single  egg,  large,  oblong,  oval,  pure  wliite;  amlf 
contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  gulls,  arries,  and  choochkies,  when  the  egg  is  removed  the  sea-parrot  does  not  renew 
it,  but  deserts  the  nest,  perhaps  locating  elsewhere.  The  young  chick  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  until  it  becomes 


134  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

fledged  and  ready  for  flight  in  August;  then  it  does  not  differ  materially  from  its  parent.  Only  the  absence  of 
the  auricular  plumes  can  be  noted.  The  Epatka  leaves  the  island  about  the  10th  of  September,  spending,  I  believe, 
the  rest  of  the  time  at  sea.  Except  when  quarreling  in  the  nesting  caverns,  this  bird  is  very  quiet  and  unobtrusive. 
It  does  not  come  in  large  numbers  to  the.  islands,  for  it  breeds  everywhere  else  in  Bering  sea,  and  along  the 
northwest  coast  as  far  south  as  Cross  sound.  Its  flight  is  performed  with  quick  and  rapid  wing-beats,  in  a  straight 
and  steady  course.  There  is  no  difference  between  the  sexes  as  to  shape,  size,  or  plumage. 

35.  Fratercula  cirrhata.  TUFTED  PUFFIN;  "TAWPOKKIE." 

This  bird  comes  to  the  island  at  about  the  same  time  as  its  cousin,  just  preceding,  and  resembles  the  "Epatkie" 
in  its  habits,  generally,  being  quite  as  conspicuous  a  domestic  scold.  It  lays  a  single  large  white  egg  of  a  rounded 
oval  shape.  I  was  not  able  to  see  a  newly  hatched  chick,  owing  to  the  retired  and  inaccessible  breeding  places ; 
for,  whenever  I  could  find  an  egg  I  seized  upon  it  instantly,  not  daring  to  wait  for  the  culmination  of  hatching.  I 
think  that  Walrus  islet,  if  visited  frequently  during  the  close  of  the  hatching-season,  would  afford  an  opportunity 
to  study  the  young,  because  the  nests,  which  were  the  only  ones  from  which  I  could  get  eggs,  are  more  easy  of 
access.  The  young  tawporkie,  six  weeks  old,  resembles  the  parents  exactly,  only  the  bill  is  lighter  colored  and 
the  plumes  on  the  head  are  incipient.  Walrus  islet  is  the  only  place  where  the  birds  can  be  daily  seen  and  watched 
with  satisfactory  results.  I  took  eggs  from  over  30  nests  in  July.  The  natives  say  that  when  it  is  mating,  its 
cries  sound  like  the  growling  of  a  bear,  as  they  issue  from  far  down  under  the  rocks  which  cover  its  nest. 

36.  Phaleris  psittacula.    PARROQUET  AUK;   "  BAILLIE  BROSHKIE." 

This  quaintly-beaked  bird  is  quite  common  on  the  Pribylov  group,  and  can  be  obtained  at  St.  George  in  large 
numbers.  It  comes  to  the  islands  early  in  May,  mute  and  silent,  locating  its  nest  in  a  deep  chink  or  crevice  of 
some  inaccessible  cliff,  where  it  lays  a  single  egg  and  rears  its  young.  It  is  very  quiet  and  undemonstrative 
during  the  pairing  season,  its  only  note  being  a  low,  s'onorous,  vibrating  whistle.  Like  Simorhynchus  cristateHus,  it 
will  breed  in  company  with  the  "  choochkie",  but  will  not  follow  that  lively  relative  back  upon  the  uplands,  for 
the  "  baillie  briishkie"  is  always  found  on  the  shore  Hue,  and  there  only.  The  egg,  which  is  laid  upon  the  bare 
earth  or  rock,  is  pure  white,  oblong-ovate,  measuring  1£  by  2.J  inches.  To  obtain  it  is  exceedingly  difficult,  owing 
to  the  bird's  great  caution  in  hiding  and  care  in  selecting  some  deep  winding  crevice  in  the  face  of  a  cliff.  At 
the  entrance  to  this  nesting  cavern,  the  parents  will  sometimes  squat  down  and  sit  silently  for  hours  at  a  time, 
if  undisturbed.  It  does  not  fly  about  the  islands  in  flocks,  and  seems  to  lead  an  unassuming,  independent  life  by 
itself,  caring  nothing  for  the  society  of  its  kind.  The  young,  when  first  hatched,  I  have  not  seen,  but  by  the  10th 
or  15th  of  August  they  may  be  coming  out  for  the  first  time  from  their  secure  retreats,  and  taking  to  wir.g  as  fully 
fledged  as  their  parents.  They  leave  the  islands  from  the  20th  of  August  to  the  1st  of  September,  and  go  out  upon 
the  North  Pacific  for  the  winter,  where  they  find  their  food,  which  consists  of  amplripoda  and  fish-fry.  I  have  never 
seen  one  among  the  thousands  that  were  around  me  on  the  islands,  opening  bivalve-shells,  such  as  mussels,  as 
stated  by  a  German  author.  It  feeds  at  sea,  flying  out  every  morning  and  returning  in  the  afternoon  to  its  nest 
and  mate.  As  in  the  case  of  the  puffins  nothing  else  than  dynamite,  or  similar  agency,  could  open  the  basaltic 
crevices  in  which  the  bird  hides ;  and,  of  course,  resort  to  this  action  would  also  destroy  the  egg ;  therefore,  I  was 
not  able  to  gather  much  more  than  a  baker's  dozen  of  their  eggs,  though  I  could  see  at  any  time  a  thousand  of 
the  birds. 

37.  Simorhynchus  cristatellus.    CRESTED  AUK;  "CANOOSKIK." 

This  fantastic  bird,  the  plumed  knight  of  the  Pribylov  islands,  is  conspicuous  by  reason  of  its  curling  crest  and 
bright  crimson  bill.  It  makes  its  appearance  in  early  May,  and  repairs  to  chinks  and  holes  in  the  rocky  cliffs,  or 
deep  down  below  a  huge  bowlder  and  rough  basaltic  shingle,  to  deposit  its  egg  upon  the  bare  earth  or  rock,  making  no 
nest  whatever;  and,  like  the  "briishkie",  so  well  do  these  birds  succeed  in  secreting  their  charge,  that  although  I 
was  constantly  upon  the  ground  where  several  thousand  pairs  were  laying,  I  was  unable  successfully  to  overturn  the 
rocks  under  which  they  hide,  and  get  more  than  four  perfect  eggs,  the  sum  total  of  many  hundred  attempts.  The 
note  of  the  "  canooskie",  while  mating,  is  a  loud,  clanging,  honk-like  sound ;  at  all  other  seasons  they  are  as  «ilent  as 
the  grave.  The  crested  auk  lays  but  one  egg,  and  the  parents  take  turns,  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  in  the  labor  of 
hatching  and  iu  that  of  feeding  their  young.  The  egg  is  rough,  pure  white,  but  with  frequent  discolorations,  and, 
compared  with  the  size  and  weight  of  the  bird,  is  disproportionately  large.  It  is  an  elongated  oblong-oval,  the 
smaller  end  being  quite  pointed.  Length,  2.10;  width,  1.40.  I  have  not  seen  -a  chick,  nor  could  I  get  any  notes 
upon  its  appearance  from  the  natives,  but  I  have  shot  the  young  as  they  came  out  for  the  first  time  from  their  dark, 
secure,  hiding  places,  full  fledged,  with  the  exception  of  their  distinctive  crest,  being  by  this  time,  the  10th  to  15th 
of  August,  as  large  as  the  old  birds,  and  of  the  same  color  and  feathering.  The  "  canooskie",  like  its  cousin,  the 
"  choochkie",  has  no  sexual  variation  iu  size  or  plumage  ;  males  and  females,  to  all  external  view,  are  precisely  alike. 
The  bright  crimson  bill  varies,  however,  considerably  iu  color,  and  in  its  strength  and  curve,  the  slenderer  bill  being 
confined,  as  far  as  I  could  see,  to  the  young  birds;  some  old  ones  had  very  pointed  beaks  also. 

38.  Simorhynchus  pusillus.     LK  AST,  OR  KNOB-BILLED  AUK  ;  "CHOOCHKIE." 

I  take  pleasure  iu  writing  the  biography  of  this  little  bird,  which  is  the  most  characteristic  and  the  most 


Plate  XXIX. 


Monograph— SEAL- ISLANDS. 


;„_.,•. 

•CHOOCHKAMIE   EDOOT!" 


THE  FULMAR'S  NICHE.  "EPATKIE"  AND   ••  TAWPORKIE." 

ORNITHOLOGICAL  SKETCHES  ON  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS,  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


Herewith  inrsinted  thnmch  tlie  courtesy  of  Harper  Brothers. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  135 

interesting  one  of  all  the  water  fowl  frequenting  the  Pribylov  islands,  for  it  comes  here  every  summer  by  millions 
to  breed.  It  is  comically  indifferent  to  the  proximity  of  man,  and  can  be  approached  almost  within  an  arm's  length 
before  taking  flight,  sitting  squatted  upright  and  eyeing  you  with  its  peculiar  "  watch-ring"  optics,  that  wear  an  air 
of  great  wisdom  combined  with  profound  astonishment. 

Usually,  about  the  1st  or  4th  of  May,  every  year,  the  "choochkie"  makes  its  first  appearance  around  the  islands 
for  the  season,  in  small  flocks  of  a  few  hundred  or  thousand,  hovering  over  and  now  and  then  alighting  upon  the 
water,  sporting  one  with  the  other  in  apparent  high  glee,  making  an  incessant,  low,  chattering  sound  ;  but  they  are 
only  the.  van  to  flocks  that  by  the  1st  or  6th  of  June  have  swarmed  in  upon  the  islands,  like  those  flights  of  locusts 
which  staggered  my  credulity  on  the  great  plains  of  the  west.  They  frequent  the  loose  stony  reefs  and  bowlder- 
bars  on  St.  Paul,  together  with  the  cliffs  on  both  islands ;  and  what  is  most  remarkable,  they  search  out  an  area 
over  five  miles  square  of  basaltic  shingle  on  St.  George  island,  which  lies  back  and  over,  inland  from  the  north 
shore  line.  To  the  last  position  they  come  in  greatest  numbers  ;  they  make  no  nest,  but  lay  a  single  egg  far  down 
below  among  the  loose  rocks,  or  they  deposit  it  deep  within  the  crevices  or  chinks  in  the  faces  of  the  bluffs. 

Although,  owing  to  their  immense  numbers,  they  seem  to  be  in  a  state  of  great  confusion,  yet  they  pair  off  and 
conduct  all  of  their  billing  and  cooing  down  under  the  rocks,  on  the  spot  chosen  for  incubation ;  making,  during  thin 
interesting  period,  a  singular  croaking  sound  more  like  a  "devil's  fiddle"  than  anything  I  have  ever  heard  outside 
of  a  city's  limits. 

To  walk  over  their  breeding-grounds,  at  this  season,  is  highly  interesting  and  most  amusing,  as  the  noise  of 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  these  little  birds,  which  are  directly  under  your  feet,  gives  rise  to  an  endless  variation 
of  volume  of  sound,  as  it  comes  up  from  the  stony  holes  and  caverns  below ;  while  the  birds  come  and  go,  in  and 
out,  whistling  around  your  head,  comically  blinking  and  fluttering. 

The  male  birds,  and  many  of  the  females,  regularly  leave  the  breeding-grounds  in  the  morning  and  go  off  to 
sea,  where  they  feed  on  small  water-shrimps  and  sea-fleas,  returning  to  their  nests  and  sitting  partners,  in  the 
evening.  It  is  one  of  the  sights  on  St.  George,  this  early  morning  departure  and  the  early  evening  return  of 
the  myriads  of  choochkies  to  their  nests.  The  SimorJiynchus  lays  a  single  pure  white  egg,  exceedingly  variable  in 
size  and  shape,  usually  oblong-oval  with  the  smaller  end  pointed.  I  have  several  specimens  almost  spherical,  and 
others  drawn  out  into  an  elongated  ellipse;  but  the  oblong  oval,  with  the  pointed  smaller  end,  is  the  prevailing 
type.  Compared  with  the  size  and  weight  of  the  little  bird,  the  egg  is  excessively  large.  Average  length,  1.55; 
width,  1.12.  The  length  of  the  bird,  3  inches ;  width,  2  inches.  The  general  aspect  of  the  egg  is  very  much 
like  that  of  the  pigeon's,  excepting  the  roughness  of  the  shell.  The  chick  is  covered  with  a  thick,  uniform,  dark, 
grayisL-black  down,  which  is  speedily  succeeded  by  feathers,  all  much  darker  than  those  of  the  parent,  when 
it  takes  its  flight  from  the  island  for  the  year,  six  weeks  after  hatching.  Old  birds  feed  their  young  by  disgorging, 
never  carrying  anything  up  in  their  bills,  and  when  the  young  leave,  they  are  just  as  large  and  just  as  heavy  as 
their  parents.  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  think  that  the  male  bird  feeds  the  female  while  incubating,  but  have  not 
been  able  to  verify  this  observation,  as  they  are  always  hidden  from  sight  at  the  time,  and  they  cannot  be  told 
apart  by  size  or  color. 

39.  Lomvia  troile,  var.  califomica.     MCRRE;  "GUILLEMOT." 

Limited  numbers  of  the  Californiau  guillemot  are  found  occasionally  perched  on  the  cliffs  with  thearne;  they 
can  only  be  distinguished  at  a  short  distance  by  a  practiced  eye,  for  they  resemble  their  allies  so  closely  and  conform 
so  strictly  to  their  habits,  that  it  will  be  but  repeating  the  description  of  the  L.  arra,  given  below,  should  I  attempt 
it.  The  largest  gathering  in  any  one  place,  that  I  have  seen  on  the  islands,  of  these  birds,  was  a  squad  of  about 
fifty  on  the  high  bluffs  at  St.  George,  but  they  are  generally  scattered  by  ones,  twos,  and  threes  among  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  of  the  arra. 

40.  Lomvia  arra.    THICK-BILLED  GUILLEMOT;  "  ARRIE." 

This  is  the  only  egg-biixl  that  has  the  slightest  economic  value  to  man  on  the  Pribylov  islands.  The  bird 
itself  is  in  bodily  size  a  true  counterpart  of  our  ordinary  barn-yard  duck,  only  it  cannot  walk  or  even  waddle  as 
the  domestic  swimmer  does.  It  lays  a  single  egg,  large  and  very  fancifully  colored;  a  bluish-green  ground,  shot 
with  dark-brown  mottlings  and  patches,  but  exceedingly  variable  as  to  definite  size  .and  color.  The  outline  of  the 
egg  is  pyriform,  sometimes  more  acute,  again  more  ovate.  It  is  the  most  palatable  of  all  the  varieties  found  on  the 
islands,  except  the  fulmar;  and  when  perfectly  fresh  I  can  testify  to  its  practical  equality  with  our  deservedly 
prized  hen's  eggs;  it  never  has  any  disagreeable  flavor  whatever,  for  the  birds  feed  entirely  upon  marine  Crustacea. 
I  have  never  found  any  fish  in  their  craws. 

This  bird  is  the  true  arra  of  Pallas,  a  name  derived  undoubtedly  from  its  striking  similarity  to  the 
harsh  sound  uttered  by  the  bird.  It  is  present  in  immense  multitudes,  countless  flocks,  principally  surrounding  St. 
George  island,  although  Walrus  islet  is  fairly  covered  by  them.  They  appear  very  eaily  in  the  season,  but  are 
slow  in  laying,  not  beginning  usually  until  the  18th  or  25th  of  June.  I  feel  quite  well  assured  that  these  birds  do 
not  migrate  far  from  Bering  sea  during  the  most  severe  winters,  and  in  the  milder  hyemul  seasons  numbers  of  them 
are  around  the  islands  during  the  entire  year.  They  lay  their  eggs  upon  the  points  and  narrow  shelves,  on  the  faceo 


136  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  the  cliff-fronts  to  the  islands,  straddling  over  the  eggs,  side  by  side,  as  thickly  as  they  can  crowd,  making  no  nests 
They  quarrel  desperately,  but  not  by  scolding;  it  is  spirited  action,  and  so  earnestly  do  they  fight,  that  all  along 
beiow  the  high  bluffs  of  the  north  shore  of  St.  George,  when  I  passed  thereunder  during  the  breeding-season,  £ 
stepped  over  hundreds  of  dead  birds  which  had  fallen  and  dashed  themselves  to  death  upon  the  rocks  while 
clinched  in  combat  with  their  rivals ;  for  they  seize  one  another  in  mid-air  and  hang  with  their  strong  mandibles  so 
savagely  to  each  other's  skin  and  feathers,  that,  with  the  swift  whirring  of  their  powerful  wings  they  are  blinded  to 
their  peril,  and  strike  the  earth  beneath  ere  they  realize  their  danger  and  immediate  death.  Their  curious  straddling) 
whereby  the  egg  is  warmed  and  hatched,  lasts  nearly  twenty-eight  days,  and  then  the  young  comes  out  with  a 
dark,  thick  coat  of  down,  which  is  supplanted  by  the  plumage  and  color  of  the  old  bird,  in  less  than  six  weeks. 
They  are  fed  by  the  disgorging  parents,  seemingly  without  a  moment's  intermission,  uttering,  all  the  while  between 
their  gulps,  a  hoarfe,  harsh,  croak,  lugubrious  enough. 

The  males  and  females  have  no  sexual  distinction  as  to  size,  shape,  and  plumage;  their  snow-white  breasts 
are  vividly  contrasted  with  their  shiny,  chocolate  necks;  backs  and  wing  coverts  are  always  black,  while  beneath 
them  is  a  continuation  of  the  pure  white  of  the  abdomen.  They  fly  with  an  energetic  action  of  their  short,  pointed 
pinions,  a  nervous,  quick,  and  well-sustained  flight,  never  swerving  or  deviating  from  their  straight  course  after 
they  once  rise.  They  plump  into  the  water  like  stones  ;  and,  unless  the  sea  is  running,  it  is  difficult  for  them  to 
take  to  wing  from  a  smooth  surface;  this  gives  them  little  concern,  however,  inasmuch  as  they  dive  so  freely. 

It  is  fitting,  perhaps,  that  I  should  say  in  connection  with  the  final  discussion  of  this  bird,  which  closes  my  list 
of  the  avifauna  peculiar  to  these  strange  islands,  that  its  singular  habit  of  circling  St.  George  as  it  flies  in  the 
morning  and  in  the  evening,  during  the  mating  season,  produces  a  very  extraordinary  demonstration  as  to  the 
exceeding  number  of  their  kind;  for  instance  at'St.  George  island,  while  the  females  begin  to  sit  over  their  eggs 
toward  the  end  of  June  and.  first  of  July,  at  regular  hours  in  the  morning  and  in  the  evening,  the  males  go 
flying  around  and  around  the  island,  in  great  files  and  platoons,  always  circling  against,  or  quartering  on,  the 
wind;  and  they  make  in  this  way,  during  a  sustained  period  of  hours  at  a  time,  a  dark  girdle  of  birds  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  broad  and  thirty  miles  long,  flying  so  thickly  together  that  the  wings  of  one  fairly  strike  those 
of  the  other;  and,  as  they  go,  they  whirl  in  swift,  revolving,  endless  succession,  during  the  periods  just 
mentioned.  This  is  a  dress-parade  of  ornithological  power,  which  I  challenge  the  world  to  rival;  certainly  the 
Pribylov  islands  possess  distinctive  exhibitions  of  mammalia  and  aves,  which  are  unrivaled.* 

CLOSING  MEMORANDA. — The  above  list  of  birds  found  on  the  Pribylov  islands  by  myself  in  the  seasons  of 
1872-'76,  inclusive,  is  perhaps  not  exhaustive  in  its  application  to  the  straggling  visitors;  indeed,  I  think  it  more  than 
likely  that  several  names  will  be  added  by  those  who  may  pay  the  subject  further  attention  ;  I  do  not  enumerate  the 
Aegiothii  which  I  shot  there  June  21, 1872,  because  the  specimens  were  so  badly  damaged  by  my  coarse  ammunition 
as  to  defy  proper  skinning;  therefore  I  made  alcoholics  of  them,  and  those  collections  have  been  mislaid  since  my 
return.  Also  the  natives  say  that  a  small  brown  owl  in  the  summer  breeds  on  St.  George,  and  the  large  Arctic  or 
Snowy  Nyctea  is  occasionally  taken  at  either  island.  I  saw  none  while  there. 

27.  CATALOGUE  OF  THE  FISHES  OF  THE  PRIBYLOV  GROUP. 

[A  memorandum  of  the  fishes  collected  at  the  Pribylov  islands,  1872-73,  by  Henry  W.  Elliott.] 

Anarrhichas  lepturus.    Rare  ;  seals  drive  them  off. 
Gadus  morrb.ua.     "  TEEESCA."t    Rare ;  seals  drive  them  off. 
Hippoglossus  vulgaris.     "PoLTOos."     Common;  only  large  ones  caught. 
Melletes  papilio.J    "  KALOG."    Common  ;  a  beach  cottoid. 

*I  have  said,  in  my  notes  of  introduction  to  this  monograph,  that  I  have  been  obliged  to  confine  myself  in  its  preparation  entirely  to 
my  own  observations  and  field-work ;  when,  therefore,  I  speak  as  above  of  such  immense  myriads  of  water-fowl,  I  fear  that  some  kindly 
critic  may  declare  truly  I  remind  him  of  worthy  Master  Gerard,  who,  in  163H,  speaking  of  Irisli  birds,  announced  that  the  common  barnacle 
goose,  Branta  leucopsis,  was  produced  in  a  wonderful  fashion,  and  proceeded  to  describe  its  growth  from  the  mollusk,  PcnMasmia 
anatifcra,  in  the  most  circumstantial  manner,  prefacing  this  amazing  story  by  a  voucher  couched  in  these  words:  "What  our  eyes  have 
seen,  and  hands  have  touched,  we  shall  declare;"  also  he  gives  a  figure  showing  the  metamorphosis  going  on  from  the  shell  into  tho 
goose!  This  cirrhipodous  origin  of  the  bird  in  question  has  not  been  agreed  to,  in  spite  of  the  weight  of  evidence,  but  strangely  enough 
its  generic  name  has  been  given  and  retained  in  accordance  with  tho  fable,  and  the  barnacle  itself  is  still  called  by  couchologists  "tho 
five-pointed  goose  bearer"!  or  Ptntelasmis  anatiftra. 

tThe  St.  George  natives  have  caught  codfish  just  off  the  Tolstoi  head  early  in  June,  but  it  is  a  rare  occurrence;  by  going  out  two  or 
three  miles  from  the  village  at  either  island,  during  July  and  August,  the  native  fisherman  usually  captures  large  halibut;  not  in 
abundance,  however.  The  St.  Paul  people,  as  well  as  their  relatives  on  St.  George,  fish  in  small,  "one  hole"  bidarkies;  they  venture 
together  in  sqnads  of  four  to  six ;  one  man  alone  in  the  kyack  is  not  able  to  secure  a  "  bolshoi  poltoos";  the  method,  when  the  halibut  is 
hooked,  is  to  call  for  your  nearest  neighbor  in  his  bidarka,  who  paddles  swiftly  up ;  yon  extend  your  paddle  to  him,  retaining  your  own 
hold,  and  he  grasps  it,  then  you  seize  his  in  turn,  thus  making  it  impossible  to  capsi/e,  while  the  large  and  powerfully  struggling  (ish  is 
brought  to  the  surface  between  the  canoes,  and  knocked  on  the  head;  it  is  then  towed  ashore  and  carried,  in  triumph,  to  the  lucky 
captor's  house. 

f  New  genus  and  species  determined  by  Dr.  Tarletou  H.  Bean,  based  upon  my  type  specimen. 


THE.  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  137 

Coitus  niger.*     "  KALOG."    Common :  a  beach  cottoid. 
Mursenoides  maxillaris.*     Eare ;  a  beach,  fish. 
Liparis  gibbus.*     Hare. 

Gasterosteus  cataphractus.    Common  ;  found  in  lagoon. 
Gasterosteus  pungitius.    Common ;  found  in  lagoon. 

28.  NOTES  ON   THE   INVERTEBEATES. 

FIELD  NOTES  UPON  THE  ENTOMOLOGY,  MALACOLOGY,  BOTANY,  ETC. — Touching  a  specific  list  of  the  insect  life 
here,  I  regret  exceedingly  that  my  collections  covering  this  head,  as  well  as  those  which  include  the  two  following 
orders,  have  been  unaccountably  mislaid ;  consequently,  I  shall  not  reproduce  the  hastily  and  naturally  imperfect 
memoranda  which  I  made  of  them  when  they  were  packed  on  St.  Paul  island  in  1872. 

LIMITED  NUMBER  OF  INSECTS  ON  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. — The  variety  and  abundance  of  entomological  life 
here  is  not  great,  with  the  marked  exception  of  a  few  species  ot  beetles  and  flesh  flies  on  the  killing-grounds.  The 
green  and  golden  carabus  is,  however,  found  distributed  in  great  numbers  all  over  the  islands. 

SCANTY  MOLLTJSCAN  REPRESENTATION  ON  THE  SEAL-ISLANDS. — I  qualify  my  statements  made  at  the 
introduction  to  this  memoir,  by  saying  that  the  terrestrial  and  littoral  forms  of  mollusca  on  and  around  the  Pribylov 
group  are  scant  in  number;  but  I  believe  tbat  the  pelagic  life  in  this  respect  will  be  found  quite  rich.  For  instance, 
I  never  saw  any  live  specimens  of  the  Neptuniance.  All  the  shells  of  this  character  collected  had  been  cast  up  by  the 
surf  and  were  empty.  The  largest  live  gasteropod  that  came  under  iny  notice  was  a  species  of  Murex.  As  the 
above  sketch  plainly  shows,  the  conchologist  has  not  a  very  extensive  field  here,  though  doubtless  search  bent 
directly  to  this  end  would  develop  a  much  better  catalogue.  If  a  dredge  were  patiently  and  energetically  used 
around  these  islands,  I  am  very  sure  that  many  new  forms  would  be  found,  which  give  us  tangible  evidence  of  their 
being,  by  land  and  beach  hunting  for  them.  My  time  was  so  thoroughly  engrossed  on  the  rookeries  that  I  had 
not  a  single  day  to  spare  during  the  only  season  of  the  year  in  which  I  could  work  with  my  dredge.  The  rough 
water  ami  weather  that  prevail  when  the  seals  are  not  about,  prevented  my  following  up  the  mollusks  in  this 
manner. 

SEA  EGGS,  OR  SEA  URCHINS  :  TOXOPNEUSTES. — Frequently  the  natives  have  brought  a  dish  of  sea  urchins' 
viscera  for  our  table,  offering  it  as  a  great  delicacy.  I  do  not  think  any  of  us  did  more  that  to  taste  it.  The  native 
women  are  the  chief  hunters  for  JEchinoidte,  and  during  the  whole  spring  and  summer  seasons  they  may  be  seen  at 
both  islands,  wading  in  the  pools  at  low  water,  with  their  scanty  skirts  high  up,  eagerly  laying  possessive  hands  upon 
every  "bristling''  egg  that  shows  itself.  They  vary  this  search  by  poking,  with  a  short-handled  hook,  into  holes 
and  rocky  crevices  for  a  small  cottoid  fish,  which  is  also  found  here  at  low  water  in  this  manner.  Specimens  of  this 
"kalog,"  which  I  brought  down,  declared  themselves  as  representatives  of  a  new  departure  from  all  other  recognized 
forms  in  which  the  sculpin  is  known  to  sport;  hence  the  name,  generic  and  specific,  Mellete* papilio. 

The  "sand-cake",  Eclrinarachnius  sp.,  is  also  very  common  here. 

FIXE  TABLE  CRAB:  CmoNOECETES. — By  the  28th  of  May  to  the  middle  of  June,  a  fine  table  crab,  large,  fat, 
and  sweet,  with  a  light,  brittle  shell,  is  taken  while  it  is  skurrying  in  and  out  of  the  lagoon  as  the  tide  ebbs  and 
flows.  It  is  the  best  flavored  crustacean  known  to  Alaskan  waters;  they  are  taken  nowhere  else,  at  St.  Paul; 
and  when  on  St.  George  I  failed  to  see  one.  I  am  not  certain  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the  season  of  running,  viz, 
28th  May  to  loth  June,  inasmuch  as  that  one  of  my  little  note-books  on  which  this  date  is  recorded  turns  out 
missing  at  the  present  writing,  and  I  am  obliged  to  give  it  from  memory.  The  only  economic  shell-fish  which  the 
islands  afford  is  embodied  in  the  CMonaecetes  opilio  (?).  The  natives  affirm  the  existence  of  mussels  here  in  abundance 
•when  the  Pribylov  group  was  first  discovered,  but  now  only  a  small  supply  of  inferior  size  and  quality  is  to  be 
found. 

MARINE  SKELETON-MAKERS:  BEAUTIFUL  WORK  OF  SEA-FLEAS. — The  service  which  swarms  of  Amphidou* 
crustaceans  rendered  me  in  cleaning  the  bones  of  birds,  fish,  and  even  seals,  cannot  be  too  highly  eulogized.  Only  in 
that  small  bight,  however,  known  as  the  "Cove",  near  the  village  of  St.  Paul,  could  I  get  the  work  done;  because 
at  no  other  spot  on  the  Pribylov  islands  was  the  sea  water  quiet  enough.  By  taking  common  hard-bread  boxes, 
which  the  company's  agent  gave  me  from  the  store,  and  substituting  a  slatted  cover,  I  would,  by  rock-ballasting, 
sink  this  with  h'fteen  or  twenty  bird  carcasses  in  the  water  here  at  low  tide.  When  a  single  flow  and  ebb  had  taken 
place,  I  had  the  box  taken  promptly  out,  never  failing  to  fird  every  skeleton  perfectly  polished,  yet  entirely 
articulated;  the  most  delicate  bones  in  a  fish's  head  or  fins  were  intact.  The  strong  food  which  the  blubber  of  the 
seal  carcasses  afford  acts  so  as  to  gorge  and  stupefy  these  little  ghouls  of  the  ocean,  for  1  did  not  succeed  well  at  all 
with  such  attempts.  The  bones  of  CallorJiinus  would  have  to  lay  submerged  in  the  cove  for  weeks,  sometimes,  ere 
they  were  eaten  free  of  flesb,  fat,  etc.;  then,  when  taken  out,  they  would  be  sadly  discolored  by  the  salt  water, 
turned  black  and  dingy  in  streaks  and  sections. 

"New  species. 


138  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

29.  NOTES  ON  THE  PLANTS. 

THE  PRINCIPAL  VEGETATION  OP  THE  PRIBYLOV  GROUP:  ABSENCE  OF  TREES. — That  spruce  trees  can  be  made 
to  live  transplanted  from  indigenous  localities  to  the  barren  slopes  of  the  Aleutian  islands  has  been  demonstrated; 
but  in  living,  these  trees  scarcely  grow  to  any  appreciable  degree.  Evergreens  were  transferred  to  Ooualashka, 
when  Veuiaininov  was  at  work  there  in  1830-'35.  They  are  still  standing  and  keep  green,  yet  the  change 
which  such  a  long  lapse  of  time  should  produce  by  growth  has  been  as  difficult  to  determine  as  it  is  to  find 
evidence  of  increased  altitude  to  the  mountains  around  them  since  these  Sitkan  trees  were  planted,  with  pious 
hope,  at  their  feet  fifty  years  ago.  Though  I  can  readily  understand  why  the  salmon  berries  of  Oonalashka  should 
not  do  well  on  the  seal-islands  (still  I  think  they  would  at  the  Garden  cove  of  St.  George),  nevertheless  I  believe 
that  the  whortleberries  of  that  section  would  thrive  at  many  places,  if  carefully  transplanted  to  these  localities,  on 
the  southern  slopes  of  Cemeteiy  ridge  at  Zapadnie,  the  southern  slopes  of  Telegraph  hill,  and  eastern  fall  of  Tolstoi 
peninsula  down  to  the  shore  of  the  lagoon.  They  might  also  do  well  set  out  at  picked  places  about  the  Big  lake 
and  on  Northeast  point,  around  the  little  lake  thereon.  If  these  bushes  really  throve  here,  they  would  be  the 
means  of  adding  greatly  to  the  comfort  of  the  inhabitants;  for  the  Ooualashka  whortleberry  is  an  exceeding  pleasant, 
juicy  fruit,  large  and  well  adapted  for  canning  and  preserving.  Having  less  sunshine  here  than  at  Illoolook, 
it  may  not  ripen  up  as  well  flavored,  but  would,  I  think,  succeed.  The  roots  of  the  plants  when  brought  up  from 
Oonalashka  in  April  or  early  May,  should  be  kept  inoist  by  wet  moss  wrappings,  from  the  moment  they  are  first  taken 
up  until  they  are  reset,  with  the  tops  well  pruned  back,  on  the  Pribylov  islands.  The  experiment  is  surely  worth 
all  the  trouble  of  making,  and  I  hope  it  will  be  undertaken. 

THE  CHARACTERISTIC  "TALNEEic":  SALix. — The  only  suggestion  of  a  tree  found  growing  on  the  Pribylov 
group  is  the  hardy  "talneek"  or  creeping  willow;  there  are  three  species  of  the  genus  Salix  found  here,  viz, 
reticulata,  polaris,  and  arctica;  the  first  named  is  the  most  common  and  of  largest  growth ;  it  progresses  exactly  as 
a  cucumber  vine  does  in  our  gardens;  as  soon  as  it  has  made  from  the  seed  a  sprout  of  six  inches  or  a  foot  upright 
from  the  soil,  then  it  droops  over  and  crawls  along  prostrate  upon  the  earth,  rocks,  and  sphagnum ;  some  of  the 
largest  talneek  trunks  will  measure  eight  or  ten  feet  in  decumbent  length  along  the  ground,  and  are  as  large 
around  the  stump  as  an  average  wrist  of  man.  The  usual  size,  however,  is  very,  very  much  less;  while  the  stems 
ofpolaris  and  arctica  scarcely  ever  reach  the  diameter  of  a  pencil  case,  or  the  procumbent  length  of  two  feet. 

Although  Rubus  chamcemorus  is  a  tree  shrub,  and  is  found  here  very  commonly  distributed,  yet  it  grows  such  a 
slender,  diminutive  bush,  that  it  gives  no  thought  whatever  of  its  being  anything  of  the  sort.  The  herbs,  grasses, 
and  ferns  tower  above  it  on  all  sides. 

FAMILIAR  AND  LOVELY  FLOWERING  PLANTS. — Perhaps  no  one  plant  that  flowers  on  the  seal-islands  is  more 
conspicuous  or  abundant  than  is  the  Saxifraga  oppositifolia ;  it  rises  over  all  localities,  rank  and  tall  in  rich 
locations,  to  stems  scarcely  one  inch  high  on  the  thin,  poor  soil  of  hill  summits  and  sides;  densely  cespitose,  with 
leaves  all  imbricated  in  four  rows;  and  flowers  almost  sessile.  I  think  that  at  least  ten  well-defined  species  of  this 
order,  Saxifragacecc,  exist  on  the  Pribylov  group.  The  Ranunculacew  are  not  so  numerous;  but,  still,  a  buttercup 
growing  in  every  low  slope,  where  you  may  chance  to  wander,  is  always  a  pleusant  reminder  of  pastures  at  home; 
and,  also,  a  suggestion  of  the  farm  is  constantly  made  by  the  luxuriant  inflorescence  of  the  wild  mustard,  Cruciferce. 
The  chickweed,  Caryophyttacw,  is  well  represented,  and  also  the  familiar  dandelion,  Taraxacum  palustre.  The 
lichens,  Thallophytes,  and  the  mosses,  Musci,  are  in  their  greatest  exuberance,  variety,  and  beauty  here;  and 
myriads  of  yellow  poppies,  Papaveracce,  are  nodding  their  graceful  heads  in  the  sweeping  of  the  wind — they  are 
the  first  flowers  to  bloom,  and  the  last  to  fade. 

The  chief  economic  value  rendered  by  the  botany  of  the  Pribylov  islands  to  the  natives,  is  the  abundance  of 
the  basket-making  rushes,  Juncacw,  which  the  old  "barbies"  gather  in  the  margins  of  many  of  the  lakes  and 
pools. 

MUSHROOMS  AT  ST.  PAUL. — The  fungoid  growths  on  the  Pribylov  islands  are  abundant  and  varied,  especially 
in  and  around  the  vicinity  of  the  rookeries  and  the  killing-grounds.  On  the  west  slope  of  the  Black  Bluffs  at  St. 
Paul,  the  mushroom,  Agaricus  campestris,  was  gathered  in  the  season  of  1872  by  the  natives,  and  eaten  by  one  or 
two  families  in  the  village,  who  had  learned  from  the  Russians  to  cook  them  nicely.  These  seal-island  mushrooms 
have  deeper  tones  of  pink  and  purple  red  in  their  gills  than  do  those  of  my  gathering  in  the  states.  I  kicked  over 
many  large  spherical  "puff-balls",  Lycoperdons,  in  my  tundra  walks;  myriads  of  smaller  ones,  Lycoperdon  cincrcum  (?), 
cover  patches  near  the  spots  where  carcasses  have  long  since  rotted,  together  with  a  pale-gray  fungus,  Agaricus 
Jimiputris,  exceedingly  delicate  and  frosted  exquisitely.  Some  ligneous  fungi,  Clacarice,  will  be  found  attached  to 
the  decaying  stems  of  Salix  reticulata  (creeping  willows).  The  irregularity  of  the  annual  growing  of  the  agarics, 
and  their  rapid  growth  when  they  do  appear,  make  their  determination  excessively  difficult;  they  are  as  unstable 
in  their  visits  as  are  several  of  the  Lepidoptera.  The  cool  humidity  of  climate  during  the  summer  season  on  the 
Pribylov  islands  is  especially  adapted  to  the  mysterious,  but  beautiful  growth  of  these  plants — the  apotheosis  of 
decay.  The  coloring  of  several  varieties  is  very  bright  and  attractive,  shading  from  a  purplish  scarlet  to  a  pallid 
white. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  139 

DIVERSE  ELEGANCE  AND  SERVICES  OF  THE  CRYPTOGAMS. — The  range  and  diverse  beauties  of  the  numerous 
mosses  and  lichens  on  these  Pribylov  islands  must  serve  as  an  agreeable  and  interesting  study  to  any  one  who  has 
the  slightest  love  for  nature.  They  undoubtedly  formed  the  first  covering  to  the  naked  rocks,  after  those  basaltic 
foundations  had  been  reared  upon  and  above  the  bed  of  the  sea — bare  and  naked  cliffs  and  bowlders,  which  with 
calm  intrepidity  presented  their  callous  fronts  to  the  ice- wedging  chisels  of  the  Frost  King;  rain,  wind,  and  thawing 
moods  destroyed  their  iron-bound  strongness;  particles  larger  and  finer  washed  down  and  away  made  a  surface 
of  soil  which  slowly  became  more  and  more  capable  of  sustaining  vegetable  life.  In  this  virgin  earth,  says  an  old 
author — 

The  wind  brings  a  small  seed,  which  at  first  generates  a  diminutive  moss,  which,  spreading  by  degrees,  with  its  tender  and  minute 
tt-xture,  resists,  however,  the  most  intense  cold,  and  extends  over  the  whole  a  verdant  velvet  carpet.  In  fact,  these  mosses  are  the 
medicines  and  the  nurses  of  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  [in  the  North].  The  bottom  parts  of  the  mosses,  which 
perish  and  moulder  away  yearly,  mingling  with  the  dissolved  but  as  yet  crude  parts  of  the  earth,  communicate  to  it  organized  particles, 
which  contribute  to  the  growth  and  nourishment- of  other  plants;  they  likewise  yield  salts  and  nngninons  phlogistic  particles  for  the 
nourishment  of  future  vegetable  colonies.  The  seeds  of  other  plants,  which  the  sea  and  winds,  or  else  the  birds  in  their  plumage,  bring 
from  distant  shores,  and  scatter  among  the  mosses. 

Then  the  botanist  needs  no  prompting  when  he  observes  the  maternal  care  of  those  mosses  that  screen  the 
tender  new  arrivals  from  the  cold,  and  imbue  them  with  the  moisture  which  they  have  stored  up,  and — 

Nourish  them  with  their  own  oily  exhalations  so  that  they  grow,  increase,  and  at  length  bear  seeds,  and  afterward  dying,  add  to  the 
unirmnoas  nutritive  particles  of  the  earth,  and  at  the  same  time  diffuse  over  this  new  earth  and  mosses  more  seeds,  the  earnest  of  a  numerous 

posterity. 

The  following  species  of  algae  were  collected  in  1872-'73,  by  the  author: 

MELANOSPERM.E. 
(All  called  "Kapoosta";  natives.) 

Fucus  vesiculosus.    Common  ;  anchored  in  large  beds. 

Nereocystis  Liitkeanus.    ("SEA-OTTER  RAFTS.")    Common. 

Alaria  esculenta.     Common.    This  has  been  used  by  the  Pribylov  natives  as  an  article  of  food  relish. 

Chordaria  flagellifonnifl.    Common. 

Elachista  fucicola.    Common. 

RHODOSPEBM.2E. 

Polysiphonia.     Rare. 
Melobesia  polymorpha.     Common. 
Melobesia  lichenoides.     Common. 
Delesseria.     Rare. 
Peyssonnelia.    Common. 
Collishamnion.     Common. 

OHlOEOSPimMJL 

Cladophora  uncialis.    Common. 

Conferva  capillaris.     Common  (fresh-water  lakes  and  pools). 
Nostochinea.     Common  (fresh-water  lakes  and  pools). 
Ulva  latissima.    Common. 

The  above  names  do  not  pretend  to  specify  the  entire  list  that  will  be  found  here,  but  they  simply  indicate  those 
varieties  which  are  dominant. 

LUXURIANCE  AND  VARIETY  OF  THE  SEA-WEEDS. — The  extent  and  luxuriance,  variety  and  beauty  of  the  algse 
forests  of  these  waters  of  Bering  sea  which  lave  the  coasts  of  the  Pribylov  group,  call  for  more  detail  of  description 
than  space  in  this  memoir  will  allow,  since  anything  like  a  fair  presentation  of  the  subject  would  require  the 
reproduction  of  my  water  colored  drawings.  After  the  heavier  gales,  especially  the  southeaster  in  October,  if  the 
naturalist  will  take  the  trouble  to  pace  the  sand-beach  between  Lukannou  and  Northeast  point  of  St.  Paul  island, 
he  will  be  rewarded  by  a  memorable  sight.  He  will  find  thrown  up  by  the  surf  a  vast  windrow  of  kelp  along  the 
whole  eight  or  ten  miles  of  this  walk,  heaped,  at  some  spots,  nearly  as  high  as  his  head;  the  large  trunks  of 
MelanogpermtRf  the  small,  but  brilliant  red  and  crimson  fronds  of  Rhodogperma:  interwoven  with  the  emerald  green 
leaves  of  the  Chlorosperm<c.  The  first-named  group  is  by  far  the  most  abundant,  and  upon  its  decaying,  fermenting 
brown  and  ocher  heaps,  lie  will  see  countless  numbers  of  a  buccinoid  whelk,  and  a  limnaca,  feeding  as  they  bore  or 
suck  out  myriads  of  tiny  holes  in  the  leaf  fronds  of  the  strong  growing  species. 

SEA-ANEMONES  AND  STAR  FISHES. — Actinias  or  sea-anemones  occur,  together  with  numerous  starfishes;  many 
jelly-fishes  are  also  interwoven  and  heaped  up  with  the  -'kapoosta"  or  sea-cabbages  just  referred  to;  also,  a 
quantity  of  rosy  "sea-squirts"  and  yellow  "sea-cucumbers". 

CONFERVOID  RUGS  AND  CARPETS. — On  the  old  killiug-lields,  on  those  spots  where  the  sloughing  carcasses  of 


140  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

repeated  seasons  have  so  enriched  the  soil  as  to  render  it  like  fire  to  most  vegetation,  a  silken  green  Conferva;  grows 
luxuriantly.  This  terrestrial  algoid  covering  appears  here  and  there,  on  these  grounds,  like  so  many  door-mats  of 
pea-green  wool.  That  confervoid  flourishes  only  on  those  spots  where  nothing  but  pure  decaying  animal  matter  is 
found.  An  admixture  of  sand  or  earth  will  always  supplant  it  by  raising  up  instead  those  strong  growing  grasses 
which  I  have  alluded  to  elsewhere,  and  which  constitute  the  chief  botanical  life  on  the  killing-grounds. 

PRECAUTIONS  NECESSARY  TO  SUCCESSFUL  BOTANICAL  WORK  — If  the  following  hints  will  serve  to  save  the 
next  collection  of  botanical  specimens  that  may  be  gathered  on  these  islands,  it  is  not  superfluous  to  print  them 
here.  Let  the  collector  take  a  large  amount  of  bibulous  paper,  and  a  small  room  all  to  himself;  in  the  center 
of  this  apartment  place  a  little  stove,  with  an  "organ"  pipe;  then  fit  up  a  series  of  broad  library  shelves  around 
the  walls  from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling;  upon  these  shelves  he  will  be  enabled,  aided  by  a  low,  steady  fire,  to  dry 
the  intensely  juicy  leguminosae,  and  several' other  exceedingly  thick  and  watery  stemmed  plants  s(>  peculiar  to  the 
Pribylov  islands,  thus  save  their  color,  and  prevent  them  from  turning  black;  a  little  fire  must  be  kept  in  the 
room  all  the  time  (hat  the  collection  is  in  the  process  of  curing,  and  also  after  it  is  ready  for  use,  ere  leaving  the 
islands.  When  shipped  it  should  be  hung  up,  well  boxed,  in  the  fire-room  of  the  steamer;  or  else,  if  the  voyage 
happens  to  be  unusually  foggy  and  dilatory,  it  will  sweat  in  the  hold,  or  cabin  even,  and  be  entirely  destroyed 
before  San  Francisco  is  reached.  I  give  these  remarks  advisedly  and  feelingly,  for  I  lost  the  result  of  a  hard 
season's  work  in  this  line  of  collection.  By  not  appreciating  these  desiderata,  another  naturalist  may  come  here 
as  I  did,  be  charmed  with  the  flora,  as  well  as  the  fauna,  and  after  gathering  hundreds  of  specimens  at  the  expense 
of  weary  weeks  of  constant  tramping,  lose  them  all. 

COURTESIES  EXTENDED  TO  NATURALISTS. — The  Alaska  Commercial  Company  afforded  me  every  facility  that 
I  had  the  ingenuity  to  ask  for — giving  me  the  unrestricted  use  of  their  men,  their  buildings,  and  their  experience. 
Had  it  been  the  direct  labor  of  the  company  instead  of  that  in  which  I  was  engaged,  I  could  not  have  had  more 
attention  paid  to  me  and  my  pursuits.  They  stand  ready  to  do  as  much  again  for  any  other  accredited  naturalist 
who  may  follow  in  my  path  over  the  Pribylov  islands  while  they  have  control;  this  they  will  possess  for  nearly 
another  decade  hence. 

30.  VENIAMINOV  ON  THE  RUSSIAN  SEAL-INDUSTRY  AT  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. 

[Translated  by  the  author,  from  Veuiatninov's  Zapieskle,  etc  ;  St.  Petersburg,  1842;  vol.  ii,  pp.  568.*] 

INDISCRIMINATE  SLAUGHTER  BY  THE  FIRST  DISCOVERERS. — From  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  Pribylov 
islands  up  to  1805  (or,  that  is,  until  the  time  of  the  arrival  in  America  of  General  Resanov),  the  taking  of  fur-seals 
on  both  islands  progressed  without  count  or  lists,  and  without  responsible  heads  or  chiefs,  because  then  (1787  to 
1805,  inclusive)  there  were  a  number  of  companies,  represented  by  as  many  agents  or  leaders,  and  all  of  them 
vied  with  each  other  in  taking  as  many  as  they  could  before  the  killing  was  stopped.  After  this,  in  1800  and  1807, 
there  were  no  seals  taken,  and  nearly  all  the  people  were  removed  to  Oonalashka. 

PARTIAL  CHECK  ORDERED. — In  1808  killing  was  again  commenced  ;  but  the  people  in  this  year  were  allowed 
to  kill  only  on  St.  George.  On  St.  Paul  hunters  were  not  permitted  this  year  or  the  next.  It  was  not  until  the 
fourth  year  after  this  that  as  many  as  half  the  number  previously  taken  were  annually  killed.  From  this  time  (St. 
George  1808,  and  St.  Paul  1810)  up  to  1822,  taking  fur-seals  progressed  on  both  islands  without  economy  and  with 
slight  circumspection,  as  if  there  was  a  race  in  killing  for  the  most  skins.  Cows  were  taken  in  the  drives  and 
killed,  and  were  also  driven  from  the  rookeries  to  places  where  they  were  slaughtered. 

It  was  oidy  in  1822  that  G.  Moorayvev  (governor)  ordered  {hat  young  seals  should  be  spared  every  year  for 
breeding,  and  from  that  time  there  were  taken  from  the  Pribylov  islands,  instead  of  40,000  to  50,000,  which 
Moorayvev  ordered  to  be  spared  in  four  successive  years,  no  more  than  8,000  to  10,000.  Since  this,  G.  Chest,\  ahkov, 
chief  ruler  after  Moorayvev,  estimated  that  from  the  increase  resulting  from  the  legislation  of  Moorayvev,  which 
was  so  honestly  carried  out  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  that  in  these  four  years  the  seals  on  St.  Paul  had  increased  to 
double  their  previous  number,  (that)  he  could  give  an  order  which  increased  the  number  to  be  annually  slain  to 
40,000;  and  this  last  order  or  course  directed  for  these  islands,  demanded  as  many  seals  as  could  be  got;  but  with 
all  possible  exertion  hardly  28,000  were  obtained. 

POOR  RESULTS. — After  this,  when  it  was  most  plainly  seen  that  the  seals  were,  on  account  of  this  wicked 
killing,  steadily  growing  less  and  less  in  number,  the  directions  were  observed  for  greater  caution  in  killing  the 
grown  seals  and  young  females,  which  came  in  with  the  droves  of  killing-seals,  and  to  endeavor  to  separate,  if 
possible,  these  from  those  which  should  be  slain. 

PARTIAL  CHECKS  AGAIN  ORDERED. — But  all  this  hardly  served  to  do  more  than  keep  the  seals  at  one  figure 
or  number,  and  hence  did  not  cause  an  increase.  Finally,  in  1834,  the  governor  of  the  company,  upon  the  clear 
(or  "handsome")  argument  of  Baron  W range!,  which  was  placed  before  him,  resolved  to  make  new  regulations 
respecting  them,  to  take  effect  in  the  same  year  (1834),  and,  following  this,  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul  only  4,000 
were  killed,  instead  of  12,000. 

*  This  italics  are  mine,  and  my  translation  is  nearly  literal,  as  might  be  inferred  by  the  idiom  here  and  there.— H.  W.  E. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  141 

On  tbe  island  of  St.  George  the  seals  were  allowed  to  rest  in  1826  and  1827,  and  since  that  time  greater 
caution  and  care  have  been  observed,  and  headmen  or  foremen  have  kept  a  careful  count  of  the  killing. 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  no  anxiety  or  care  as  to  the  preservation  of  the  seal-life  began  until  1805  (i.  e., 
with  the  united  companies). 

It  is  further  evident,  that  all  half  measures,  seen  or  not  seen,  were  useful  no  longer,  as  they  only  served  to 
preserve  a  small  portion  of  the  seallife,  and  only  the  last  step  (1834)  with  the  present  people  or  inhabitants  has 
proved  of  benefit.  And  if  such  regulations  of  the  company  continue  for  fifteen  years  (i.  e,  until  1849),  it  may  be 
truly  said  that  then  the  seal  life  will  be  attracted  quite  rapidly,  under  the  careful  direction  of  headmen,  so  that  in 
quite  a  short  time  a  handsome  yield  may  be  taken  every  year.  In  connection  with  this  subject,  if  the  company  are 
moderate  and  these  regulations  are  carried  out,  the  seal  life  will  serve  them  and  be  depended  upon,  as  shown  in  this 
volume,  Table  No.  2. 

IDEAS  OF  THE  OLD  NATIVES. — Nearly  all  the  old  men  think  and  assert  that  the  seals  which  are  spared  every 
year  ("  zapooskat  A-otor"),  i.  e.,  those  which  have  not  been  killed  for  several  years,  are  truly  of  little  use  for  breeding, 
lying  about  as  if  they  were  outcasts  or  disfranchised.  About  these  seals,  they  show  that  after  the  seals  were  spared, 
they  were  always  less  thau  they  should  be,  as,  for  instance,  on  the  island  of  St.  George,  after  two  years  of  saving 
or  sparing  of  5,500  seals,  in  the  first  year  they  got,  instead  of  10,000,  or  8,000  as  expected,  only  4,778. 

WHY  THE  SEALS  DIMINISHED.— But  this  diminution,  which  is  shown  in  the  most  convincing  manner,  is  due  to 
wrong  and  injustice,  because  it  would  not  have  been  otherwise  with  any  kind  of  animals — even  cattle  would  have 
been  exterminated — because  a  great  many  here  think  and  count  that  the  seal-mother  brings  forth  her  young  in  her 
third  year,  i.e.,  the  next  two  years  after  her  own  birth.  As  it  is  well  shown  here,  the  spared  seals  ("  zapooslde  ") 
were  not  more  than  three  years  old,  and  therefore  it  was  not  possible  to  discern  the  correct  and  true  numbers  as 
they  really  were.  Taking  the  females  killed  by  the  people,  together  with  all  the  seals  which  were  purposely  spared, 
it  was  seen  that  the  seal-mothers  did  not  begin  to  bear  earlier  than  the  fifth  year  of  their  lives.  Illustrative  of  this 
is  the  following: 

(a)  On  the  island  of  St.  George,  after  the  first  "zapooka",  in  1828,  the  killing  of  five-year-old  seals  was 
continued  gradually  up  to  five  times  as  many  as  at  first.  With  those  of  five  years  old  the  killing  stopped.  Then 
next  year  twelve  times  as  many  six-year-olds  were  observed  on  the  islands,  as  compared  with  their  number  of  the 
last  year,  and  with  or  in  the  seventh  year  came  seven  times  as  many.  This  shows  that  females  born  in  1828  did 
not  begin  to  bear  young  until  their  fifth  year,  and  become  with  young  accordingly:  that  the  large  ones  did  not 
appear  or  come  in  six  years  (from  1828),  as  is  evident,  for  in  the  fifth  year  all  the  females  did  not  bring  forth. 

(ft)  It  is  known  that  the  male  seals  cannot  become  "  seecatchies  "  (adult  bulls)  earlier  than  their  fifth  or  sixth 
year ;  following  this,  it  may  be  said  that  the  female  bears  earlier  than  the  fourth  year. 

(c)  If  the  male  seal  cannot  become  a  bull  ("  seecatehie  ")  earlier  than  the  fifth  year,  then,  as  Buffon  remarks, 
"  animals  can  live  seven  times  the  length  of  the  period  required  for  their  maturity";  therefore,  a  "seecatch"  cannot 
live  less  than  thirty  yea  s,  and  a  female  not  less  than  twenty-eight.* 

VENIAMINOV'S  BELIEF  THAT  FEMALES  CANNOT  BEAU  YOUNG  UNTIL  FOUR  YEARS  OLD. — Taking  the  opinion 
of  Buffon  <or  ground  in  saying,  that  animals  do  not  come  to  their  full  maturity  until  one-seventh  of  their  lives  has 
passed,  it  goes  also  to  prove  that  the  female  seal  cannot  bear  young  before  her  fourth  year. 

It  is,  without  doubt,  a  fact  that  female  seals  do  not  begin  to  bear  young  before  their  fifth  year,  i.  e.,  the  next 
four  years  after  the  oue  of  their  birth,  and  not  in  the  third  or  fourth  year.  That,  however,  is  not  the  rule,  but  the 
exception.  To  make  it  more  apparent  that  females  cannot  bear  young  in  their  third  year,  consider  two-year-old 
females,  and  compare  them  with  "seecatchie"  (adult  bulls)  and  cows  (adult  female*),  and  it  will  be  evident  to  all 
that  this  is  impossible. 

Do  the  females  bear  young  every  year ;  and  how  often  in  their  lives  do  they  bring  forth  ? 

His  DOUBTS  ON  THE  SUBJECT. — To  settle  this  question  is  very  difficult,  for  it  is  impossible  to  m^ke  any 
observations  upon  their  movements;  but  I  think  that  the  females,  in  their  younger  years  (or  prime),  bring  forth 
every  year,  and  as  they  get  older,  every  other  year;  thus,  according  to  people  accustomed  to  them,  they  may  each 
bring  forth  in  their  whole  lives  from  ten  to  fifteen  young,  and  even  more.  This  opinion  is  founded  on  the  fact  that 
never  (except  in  oue  year,  1832)  have  an  excessive  number  of  females  been  seen  without  young;  that  cows  not 
pregnant  hardly  ever  come  to  the  Pribylov  islands  ;  that  such  females  cannot  be  seen  every  year.  As  to  how  large 
a  number  of  females  do  not  bear,  according  to  the  opinions  and  personal  observations  of  the  old  people,  the  following 
may  be  depended  upon  with  confidence:  not  more  than  one  fifth  of  the  mature  or  "effective"  females  are  without 
young;  but  to  avoid  erroneous  impressions  or  conflicting  statements  between  others  and  myself,  I  have  had  but  oue 
season  ("trayf")  in  which  to  personally  observe  and  consider  the  multiplication  of  seals. 

*  "This  remark  is  sustained  by  tbe  observation  of  old  men,  aiid  especially  by  one  of  the  best  Creoles,  Shiesr.eekov,  \vho  -was  on  the 
island  of  St.  Paul  in  1S17.  and  \\lio  knows  of  one  "seecatcli"  (known  by  a  bald  head),  which  in  that  time  had  already  a  large  Lord  of 
cows  or  females,  surrounded  and  bunted  by  a  like  number  of  females  and  strong,  savage  old  bulls :  therefore,  it  may  be  safely  thought  that 
this  bull  did  not  get  his  growth  until  his  lifth  year,  and  at  this  time  he  could  not  have  been  less  thau  ten  years  old.  And  this  same  bull 
came  every  year  to  the  island  and  the  same  place  for  fifteen  years  iu  succession,  up  to  1&52,  and  it  was  ouly  in  the  later  years  that  Ms 
harem  grew  smaller  and  smaller  in  number." 


142  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

His  THOUGHTS  ON  BIETH  OF  PUPS. — There  is  one  more  very  important  question  in  the  consideration  of  the 
breeding  or  the  increase  of  seals,  and  that  is,  of  the  number  of  young  seals  born  in  one  year,  how  many  are  males; 
and  is  the  number  of  males  always  the  same  in  proportion  to  the  females? 

Judging  from  the  "holluschickie"  accumulated  from  the  "  zapooska"  in  1822-'24  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul,  and 
in  1826-'27  on  the  island  of  St.  George,  the  number  of  young  males  was  widely  variable;  for  example,  on  the  island 
of  St.  Paul,  in  three  years,  11,000  seals  were  spared,  and  in  the  following  three  years  there  were  killed  7,000,  i.  e., 
about  two-thirds  of  the  number  saved;  opposed  to  this,  on  the  island  of  St.  George,  from  8,500  seals  spared  in  two 
years,  less  than  3,000  were  taken — hardly  one-third. 

Why  this  irregularity?  Why  should  more  young  males  be  born  at  owe  time,  and  at  another  less?  Or  why 
should  there  be  years  in  which  many  cows  do  not  bear  young? 

According  to  the  belief  of  the  people  here,  I  think  that  of  the  number  of  seals  born  every  year,  half  are  males 
and  as  many  females  (i.  e.,  the  other  half). 

TABLE  No.  I :  ITS  USE. — To  demonstrate  the  above-mentioned  conditions  of  seal-life,  the  table  No.  I  has  been 
formed  of  the  number  of  seals  annually  killed  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  from  1817  to  1838  (when  this  work  was  ended). 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that — 

1.  No  single  successive  year  presents  a  good  number  of  seals  killed,  as  compared  with  the  previous  year;  the 
number  is  always  less. 

2.  The  annual  number  of  seals  killed  was  not  in  a  constant  ratio. 

3.  And,  therefore,  in  the  regular  hunting-season  there  is  less  need  or  occasion,  during  the  next'fifteen  years,  to 
demand  the  whole  seal  kind. 

4.  Fewer  seals  were  killed  in  those  years,  generally,  following  a  previous  year  in  which  there  were  larger 
numbers  of  the  "holluschickie";  that  is,  when  the  young  males  were  not  completely  destroyed,  and  more  were  killed 
when  the  number  of  "holluschickie"  was  less. 

5.  The  number  of  "holluschickie"  is  a  true  register  or  showing  of  the  number  of  seals;  i.e.,  if  the  "holluschickie" 
increase  and  exist  like  the  young  females,  and  conversely. 

6.  "Holluschickie"  break  from  the  (common)  herd  and  gather  by  themselves  no  earlier  than  the  third  year, 
as  seen  in  the  case  of  the  spared  seals  on  the  islands  of  St.  George  and  St.  Paul,  the  latter  from  1822-'24  to 
1835-'37,  inclusive;  the  former  from  1826-'27. 

7.  The  number  of  seals  killed  on  the  island  of  St.  George,  after  two  years   ("zapooska")  was  resumed,  and 
gradually  increased  to  five  times  as  many. 

8.  In  the  fifth  year  from  the  first  "zapooskie"  (or  saving)  it  became  possible  to  count  or  reckon  on  the  number 
remaining,  and  six-year-olds  began  to  appear  twelve  times  as  numerous,  and  seven-year-olds  came  in  numbers 
sevenfold  greater  than  their  previous  small  number;  and,  therefore,  the  number  of  three-year-old  seals  was  quite 

.  constant. 

9.  If  on  the  island  of  St.  George,  in  1826-'27,  the  seals  had  not  had  this  rest  ("zapooska"),  and  the  killing  had 
been  continued,  even  at  the  diminished  ratio  of  one-eighth,  in  1840  or  1842  there  would  not  have  been  a  single  seal 
left,  as  appears  by  the  following  table : 

Seals. 

1825 5,500 

1826 4,400 

1827 3,520 

1828 2,816 

1829 2,468 

1830 2,160 

1831 1,890 

1832..  .  1,554 


Seals. 


1833  .......................................................  i,:;fio 

1834  .......................................................  1,190 

18:55  .......................................................  1,040 

1836  .......................................................  850 

1837  ......................................................  700 

1838  .......................................................  580 

1839  ...  ....................................................  P.OO 

1840  ..  400 


10.  EESULTS  OF  THE  "ZAPOOSKA". — Following  two  years  of  "zapooska"  (saving),  the  seal-life  is  enhanced  for 
more  than  ten  years,  and  the  loss  sustained  by  the  company  in  the  time  of  "zapooskov"  (about  8,500)  is  made  good 
in  the  long  run.    The  case  may  be  thus  stated  :  if  the  company  had  not  spared  the  seals  in  1826-'27  they  would 
have  received,  from  1826  to  1838  (twelve  years),  no  more  than  24,000,  but  by  making  this  zapooska  regulation  for 
two  years,  they  got  in  ten  years  31,570,  and,  beyond  this,  they  can  yet  take  1  ,000  without  another,  or  any,  zapooska. 

11.  And  in  this  case,  where  such  an  insignificant  number  of  seals  was  spared  on  St.  George  (about  8,500),  and 
in  such  a  short  time  (two  years),  the  result  was  at  once  significant  every  year;  that  is,  three  times  more  appeared 
than  the  number  spared.      The  result,  therefore,  must  be  large  annually  on  the  island  of   St.  Paul,  win-re,  in 
consequence  of  the  last  orders  or  directions,  of  the  governor,  already  four  years  of  saving  have  been  in  force,  in 
which  time  over  30,000  seals  have  been  left  for  breeding. 

On  this  account,  and  in  conformity  with  the  above,  I  here  present  a  table,  a  prophecy  of  the  seals  that  are  to 
come  in  the  next  fifteen  years  from  7,000  seals  saved  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul  in  183o. 

On  the  island  of  St.  Paul,  at  the  direction  of  the  governor,  a  "zapoosk"  or  saving  was  made  of  12,700  seals; 
that  is,  before  the  year  1834  there  were  killed  12,700  seals,  and  on  the  following  year,  if  this  saving  had  not  been 


THE  FUR  SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


143 


made,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  inhabitants,  no  more  than  12,200  seals  would  or  could  have  been  taken  from 
the  islands,  it  being  thought  that  this  number  (12,200)  was  only  one  twenty-fifth  of  the  whole ;  but  instead  of  killing 
12,200,  only  4,052  were  taken,  leaving  in  1835,  for  breeding,  8,118  fresh  young  seals,  males  and  females,  together. 

In  making  this  hypothetical  table  of  seals  that  are  to  come,  I  take  the  average  killing,  that  is,  one-eighth  part, 
aud  proceed  on  the  supposition  that  the  number  of  saved  seals  will  not  be  less  than  7,060. 

In  the  number  of  7,060  seals  we  can  calculate  upon  3,600  females;  that  is,  a  slight  majority  of  males.  With  the 
new  females  born  under  this  "  zapooska  "  I  place  half  of  those  born  the  first  year,  and  so  on. 

Females,  in  the  twelve  or  eighteen  years  next  after  their  birth,  must  become  less  in  number  from  natural  causes, 
and  by  the  twenty  second  year  of  their  lives  they  must  be  quite  useless  for  breeding. 

Of  the  number  of  seals  which  may  be  born  during  the  next  four  years  of  "  zapooska  ",  or  longer,  we  may  take 
half  for  females.  This  number  is  included  in  the  table,  and  the  males,  or  "  holluschickie",  make  up  the  total. 

TABLE  No.  II :  ITS  SHOWING. — From  t-he  table  II  observe  that — * 

1.  Old  females,  that  is,  those  which  in  1835  were  capable  of  bearing  young,  in  1850  must  be  canceled  (minus). 
They  probably  die  in  proportion  of  one-eighth  of  the  whole  number  every  year. 

2.  For  the  first  four  years  of  "zapooska ",  until  the  new  females  begin  to  bear,  their  number  will  be  generally 
less. 

3.  A  constant  number  of  seals  will  continue  during  the  first  six  years  of  their  "zapooska";  in  twelve,  these  seals 
will  double ;  in  fourteen  years  they  will  have  increased  threefold ;  and  after  fifteen  years  of  this  "zapooska"  or  saving 
of  7,060,  in  the  first  year,  24,000  niiiy  be  taken  from  them. ;  in  the  second,  28,000 ;  in  the  third,  32,000 ;  in  the  fourth, 
30,000 ;  in  the  fifth,  41,000 ;  thus  in  five  years  more  than  160,000  can  be  taken.    Then,  under  the  supervision  of 
persons  who  will  see  that  one-fifth  of  the  seals  be  steadily  spared,  32,000  may  be  taken  every  year  for  a  long  time. 

4.  Moreover,  from  the  production  of  fifteen  years'  "  zapooska",  there  can  be  taken  from  60,000  to  70,000 
"holluschickie",  which,  together  with  160,000  seals,  makes  230,000. 

5.  If  this  "  zapooska  "  for  the  next  fifteen  years  is  not  made  for  the  seal-life,  diminution  will  certainly  ensue,  and 
all  this  time,  with  all  possible  effort,  no  more  than  50,000  seals  will  be  taken. 

Here  it  should  be  said  that  this  hypothetical  table  of  the  probable  increase  of  seals  is  made  on  the  supposition 
of  the  decrease  of  females,  and  an  average  is  taken  accordingly.  Furthermore,  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul,  in 
1836-'37,  instead  of  7,900  seals  being  killed,  but  4,860  were  taken.  Hence,  it  follows  that  these  1,500  females  thus 
saved  in  two  years,  aud  which  are  omitted  from  the  table,  will  also  make  a  very  significant  addition  to  the  incoming 
seals,  t 

TABLE  I,  PART  II.— Bishop  Feniaminor'*  Zapieska,  etc.,  slowing  the  seal-catch  during  the  period  of  gradual  diminution  of  life  on  the  islands,  from 

1817  down  to  1837. 


Taken  from  — 

1817. 

1818. 

1819. 

1820. 

1821. 

1822. 

1823. 

1824. 

1825. 

1826. 

1827. 

Saint  Paul  island  .     .     . 

47  860 

45  932 

40  300 

39,700 

35,750 

28,150 

24,100 

19  850 

24  600 

23,250 

17  750 

12,328 

13  9°4 

11  9'5 

10  520 

9  245 

8,319 

5,773 

5,550 

5,500 

» 

1,950 

Total 

60  188 

59  806 

5''  225 

50  220 

44  995 

36  469 

29  873 

25  400 

30  100 

23  250 

19  700 

Taken  from  — 

1828. 

1829. 

1830. 

1831. 

1832. 

1833. 

1834. 

1835. 

1836. 

1837. 

18,450 

17  150 

15  200 

12,950 

33  150 

13  200 

12,700 

4  052 

4  040 

4  °20 

4  778 

3  C61 

2,834 

3  084 

3  296 

3  212 

3  051 

2,528 

2.  550 

2  582 

t.00* 

Total        

23  228 

2J  811 

18,034 

16  034 

16  446 

16  412 

15,751 

6,580 

6,590 

,•  ..  1 

Grand  total  for  Saint  Paul  island      464.259 

Grand  total  for  Saint  George  island 114,665 


Total  catch  daring  nineteen  years  of  diminution  578,924 

'The  reader,  in  following  the  calculations  of  the  Bishop,  as  exhibited  by  this  table,  must  not  forget  to  bear  in  mind,  as  he  rnns  it 
over,  that  it  i-i  arranged  with  a  sliding  scale  of  increase,  that  counts  steadily  down  from  1840  to  1849;  and  also,  a  sliding  down  scale  of 
decrease,  by  reason  of  uainral  death-rates,  that  works  steadily  across  these  figures  of  increase  just  specified. — H.  \V.  E. 

1 1  translate  this  chapter  of  Veniaminov's  without  abridgment,  although  it  is  full  of  errors,  to  show  that  while  the  Russians  gave  this 
matter  evidently  much  thought  at  headquarters,  yet  they  failed  to  send  some  one  on  to  the  ground,  who,  by  first  making  himself  acquainted 
with  The  habits  of  the  seals  from  close  observation  of  their  lives,  should  then  be  fitted  to  prepare  rules  and  regulations  founded  npon  this 
knowledge.  These  suggestions  of  Veniamiuov  were,  however,  a  vast  improvement  on  the  work  as  it  was  conducted,  and  they  were 
adopted  at  oute;  but  it  was  uot  until  1845  that  the  great  importance  of  never  disturbing  the  breeding-seals  was  recognized. — H.  W.  E. 

;  Left  to  breed. 


144  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

TABLE  II. — Showing  the  number  of  seals  that  will  visit  the  island  in  the  next  twenty-two  years — a  prophecy  made  by  Veniaminov  in  1834. 


1 

2 
8 
4 
5 

* 

7 
8 
0 
10 

11 

12 
13 
14 
16 

To! 
Tot 

All 

Tears. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 

20. 

21. 

22. 

1835. 

1836. 

1837. 

1838. 

1839. 

1840. 

1841 

1842. 

1843. 

1844. 

1845. 

1846. 

1847. 

1848. 

1849. 

1850. 

1851. 

1852. 

1853. 

1854. 

1855. 

1856. 

1835  .... 
1830  .... 
1837 

3,000 
0 

0 
3,150 
0 

0 
0 

2,755 

0 

0 

900 

1,200 
785 

1,200 
1,050 
680 

1,200 
1,050 
918 
600 

1,200 
1,050 
918 
805 
450 

ivals  .  . 
uiers.. 

1,200 
1,050 
918 

8U5 
700 

450 
152 

1,200 
1,050 
918 

805 
700 

615 

200 

315 
420 

1,200 

1,0:0 

918 
805 
700 

615 

200 

525 
572 

325 
650 

1,200 
1,030 
918 

805 
700 

615 
•  200 

525 
572 

431 
909 

258 
880 

1,200 
1,050 
918 
805 
700 

615 
200 

525 
572 

451 
909 

376 
1,188 

225 
1,  020 

1,000 
1,050 
918 
805 
700 

615 

200 

525 
572 

451 
909 

376 
1,188 

300 
1,440 

180 
1,240 

800 
1,000 
918 
805 
700 

615 

200 

525 
572 

451 
909 

376 
1,188 

300 
1,440 

241 
1,087 

125 
1,500 

400 
700 
*    900 
805 
700 

CIS 
200 

525 
572 

451 
909 

376 
1,188 

300 
1,410 

241 
1,687 

190 
1,994 

100 
1,810 

200 
300 
COO 
805 
700 

615 

200 

525 
572 

451 

909 

376 
1,188 

300 
1,440 

241 
1,687 

190 
1,994 

143 
2,420 

61 
2,254 

100 
300 
750 
700 

015 
200 

525 
572 

451 
909 

370 
1,188 

300 
1,  440 

241 
1,087 

190 
1,994 

143 
2,420 

83 
2,908 

25 
2,550 

10 

500 
600 

600 
150 

52;. 

572 

451 
909 

370 
1,188 

300 
1,440 

241 
1,687 

190 
1,994 

143 
2,420 

83 
2,908 

40 
3,187 

1838 

2,  410 

SOO 
400 

500 
100 

500 
500 

451 
909 

378 
1,188 

300 
1,440 

241 

l.f.87 

100 
1,994 

143 
2,420 

83 
2,908 

40 
3,187 

1839 

2,110 
Now. 

1840 

5 

1,845 

900 

1  580 

Fiomoldnn 
From  ne  w  cc 

1841 

i 

f 

Total 
"t 

new.. 

1,985 

1  355 

From  new  ones  

1842 

< 

Total 
[ 

new.. 

2,930 

1  130 

From 

new  ones  

1843 

I 

Total 
1 

new.. 

3,768 

900 
4,423 

From 

new  onca  

1844 

< 

Total 
I 

new.. 

Fiom  new  ones    

1845      .  . 

i 

725 

Total 
\ 

new... 

6,275 

580 
6,225 

From  new  ones  

1846 

I 

Total  i 
I 

lew  

From  new  ones  

1847 

J 

430 
7,560 

Total 
\ 

lew  ... 

250 
9,083 

From  new  ones  

1848    .. 

I 

Total  1 
\ 

lew  ... 

100 
10,654 

From  new  ones  

1849.... 

I 

Total  new  .  .  . 

al  ?  .... 
al  <$  .... 

J 

3,000 
3,460 

3,150 
3,150 

2,755 
2,755 

2,410 
2,410 

2,110 
2,110 

2,745 
2,745 

3,565 
3,435 

4,285 
4,215 

4,898 
4,102 

5,323 
5,378 

6,000 
6,000 

6,805 
6,795 

7,990 
8,010 

9,333 
9,267 

10,754 
10,  746 

12,  369 
12,  331 

14,  153 

14,  147 

16,  148 
16,  102 

18,  210 
18,184 

20,  820  '20,  105 
20,824  20,095 

19,  358 
19,  342 

7.0CO 

6,300 

5,510 

4,820 

4,220 

5,490 

7,000 

8,500 

9,700 

10,  700 

12,  000 

13,600 

10,  000 

18,600 

21,  500 

24,  700 

28,  300 

32,250   36,400   41,640   40,200   38,700 

From  this  table  behold  that — 

a.  Every  fifteen  years,  from  3,600  females,  there  can  be  received  in  sixteen  years  24,700  seals ;  in  sixteen  years 
still  more;  and  in  twenty  years  41,640. 

b.  In  the  twenty-first  year  the  incomes  begin  to  diminish,  provided  that  if  in  the  meantime,  or  the  following 
sixteen  years,  a  certain  number  of  young  seals  are  not  left  to  breed;  and  if  every  year  a  known  number  are  left 
to  breed,  then  in  all  following  years  the  yield  will  never  be  less  than  20,000  every  year. 

TABLE  III. — Calculation  as  to  the  taking  of  the  seals  on  the  island  of  St.  George,  made  up  from  two  years,  and  based  upon  that  experience. 

(1827-'28.) 


1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

12. 

Grand 

1826. 

1827. 

1828. 

1829. 

1830. 

1831. 

1832. 

1833. 

1834. 

1835. 

1836. 

1837. 

total. 

1      184>6 

2  200 

450 

700 

700 

700 

700 

700 

700 

2      18°7 

2  050 

360 

600 

600 

COO 

600 

000 

3.—  1828  

Licht  

1,700 

1,500 

1,  200 

1,000 

700 

550 

400 

250 

100 

50 

1,450 

1,700 

1,850 

1,700 

1,550 

1,400 

i,  :j.">o 

"  Holluschlckie  "  

2,200 

2,050 

1,600 

1,500 

1,200 

1,760 

1,800 

1,700 

1,500 

1,500 

1,400 

Total  

2,200 

2,050 

1,000 

1,500 

1,200 

1.450 

3,520 

3,  6.>0 

3,400 

3,050 

2,  9CO 

2,750 

20,  270 

The  actual  taking  of  seals  was  as  follows  : 

Seals. 

In  1828 4,778 

In  1829 3,661 

In  1830 a,  834 

In  1831 3,084 

In  1832 3,296 

In  1833 3,212 


Foals. 

In  1834 3,051 

In  1835 2,528 

I:i  1836 .-     2,550 

In  1837..  2,582 


Total 31,576 


THE.  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  145 

From  this  table  it  will  be  seen  that  up  to  1838  my  calculation  makes  a  yield  of  29,270  seals ;  while  the  actual 
result  was  31,576;  making  a  difference  of .2,306. 

The  ditt'erence  determines  that  the  hypothesis  upon  which  the  table  is  based  is  correct. 

31.  VENIAMIXOV'S  ACCOUNT  OP  THE  DISCOVEKY  OF  THE  PEIBYLOV  ISLANDS.* 

LOCATION  AND  DISCOVERY. — Under  the  name  of  the  Pribylov  islands  are  known  two  small  islands  lying  in 
Bering  sea,  between  56°  and  57°  north  latitude,  and  168°  and  170°  west  longitude. 

Stoorman  G.  Pribylov,  who  had  been  on  the  American  coast  for  some  time  and  observed  the  indications  of 
islands  in  Bering  sea,  became  convinced  of  their  existence;  and  the  embarassed  circumstances  of  his  company 
finally  induced  him  to  attempt  their  discovery.  *  *  *  He  was  considered  one  of  the  best  navigators  of  that 
region.  *  *  *  For  a  long  time  he  was  in  close  vicinity  to  one  of  the  islands  subsequently  named  after  him,  but 
three  weeks  elapsed  before  he  could  get  a  sight  of  the  same  through  the  surrounding  fog.  At  last  fate  or  good 
fortune,  coming  to  the  assistance  of  an  enterprising  man,  raised  the  curtain  of  the  fog,  and  the  eastern  headland 
of  the  island  (Tolstoi  Mees)  nearest  to  the  Aleutian  archipelago  rose  up  before  the  navigators,  filling  them  with 
inexpressible  joy.  This  island  was  named  by  them,  after  their  ship,  "St.  George".  The  "predovchik"  (or  leader) 
of  the  expedition,  Yeafeem  Popov,  with  all  the  hunters  on  the  vessel,  landed  and  remained  on  the  newly-discovered 
island ;  but  the  vessel,  failing  to  find  any  harbor,  returned  to  winter  at  the  Aleutian  islands,  carrying  away  a  few 
fur-seals  and  sea  otters.  The  hunters  who  remained  on  the  island  of  St.  George  sighted,  on  the  29th  of  June 
(Justinian  calendar)  of  the  following  year  (the  day  of  the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul),  an  island  to  the  northward, 
which  they  at  once  named  "  Peter  and  Paul",  but  the  name  of  Peter  was  subsequently  dropped  from  common  usage. 
These  islands  have  borne,  since  their  discovery,  a  variety  of  names.  At  first  they  were  called  simply  "Novie" 
(neic);  the  Pribylov;  and  the  "predovchik"  named  them  Laibdevskie  (the  principal  shareholder  of  the  company 
was  Laibedev).  Shellikov  named  them  "Zubovie"  (this  was  the  name  of  tlie  minister  of  interior  at  that  time,  who  was 
a  partner  and  shareholder  also);  but  among  the  hunters  they  attained  the  appellation  of  "Saivernie"  (northern)  on 
account  of  their  situation  north  of  Oonalashka,  and  "Kotovuie",  or  Seal-islands.  At  the  present  time  (1838)  they 
are  often  called  simply  "The  Islands"  in  the  colonies  ^i.  e.,  Alaska  and  Kamtchatka).  The  name  of  Pribylov,  as  the 
one  most  justly  applied,  should  be  used  throughout. 

The  change  from  summer  to  winter  is  abrupt.  The  number  of  clear  days  is  exceedingly  small.  The  sun  is 
rarely  visible  between  the  1st  of  May  and  the  middle  of  August,  and  during  nearly  all  that  time  it  is  impossible  to 
see  beyond  the  distance  of  a  few  fathoms  ("*o/eens").  For  this  reason  these  islands  are  so  difficult  to  find,  that  out 
of  twenty  ships  only  one  succeeded  in  reaching  them  by  a  straight  course.  They  are  visible  only  during  easterly 
winds  for  a  brief  period,  *  *  *  but  the  constant  winds  probably  counteract  the  exhalations  (from  the  carcasses). 
Uud^r  the  present  circumstances  (1838)  it  would  be  impossible  to  remedy  the  trouble ;  to  kill  the  animals  at  a 
greater  distance  from  the  village  would  require  an  increased  number  of  laborers  to  pack  the  skins  and  meat ;  and  if 
the  carcasi-es  were  burned,  the  smoke  would  probably  drive  away  the  animals,  while  there  is  neither  soil  nor  labor 
sufficient  to  bury  or  to  burn  them.  The  latter  process  would  also  deprive  the  inhabitants  of  their  fuel,  as  they 
employ  bones  and  putrified  meat  for  cooking  purposes,  in  place  of  wood. 

The  food  supply  is  ample  even  to  luxury,  especially  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul.  The  labor  is  severe,  but 
only  temporary,  and  the  inhabitants  have  a  great  deal  of  time  for  themselves.  A  majority  of  them  employ  their 
leisure  hours  very  well,  teaching  themselves  and  their  children  the  rudiments  of  the  Kussian  and  Aleutian  grammar, 
and  with  such  success  that  of  late,  under  the  administration  of  the  Creole,  Shiesneekov,  nearly  all  the  males  on  St. 
Paul  have  learned  to  read.  These  people  are  not  only  richer,  but  more  active  and  energetic  in  their  labor  as  well 
as  in  their  pious  faith,  than  are  their  Aleutian  brethren  elsewhere;  and  altogether  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Paul  may 
be  called  the  first  among  the  Aleuts. 

On  account  of  the  value  of  fur-seal  and  sea-otter  skins  shipped  from  these  islands  since  their  discovery,  and 
up  to  the  present  time  (1838),  they  might  be  called  the  "Golden  islands",  without  estimating  the  125,000  blue  foxes 
and  50,000  sea-otters  shipped  from  there  during  the  first  thirty  years  (after  their  discovery). 

THE  TILLAGES  AS  THEY  WERE  ix  1838. — The  first  and  most  important  settlement  was  situated  at  the 
southwestern  extremity  of  the  island  (Zapadnie).  The  second,  which  is  the  present  site,  on  the  southeastern  point 
(Village  Hill).  In  the  village  of  today  (1838)  there  is  a  wooden  chapel  in  honor  of  the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul, 
erected  in  1821,  and  nicely  ornamented  in  the  interior,  at  the  expense  of  the  resident  Aleuts ;  a  dwelling  for  the 
manager;  a  store,  and  a  magazine,  all  built  like  the  church,  of  neatly-dressed  drift  logs.  In  addition  to  this,  there 
is  a  :'kozarmie"  (barracoon)  built  alter  the  fashion  of  Aleutian  "oolaghanmh"  (or  large,  communistic,  underground] 
habitations)  houses,  a  few  private  dwellings,  and  thirteen  native  barrabaras.  A  small  wind-mill  has  been  added  of, 
late. 

'Translated,  by   the   author,   from    Bishop   Innocent   Yenianiinov's   work,   Zapieslft  oft    0»tr»rah    Oonahlaxld'eitskalio   Otdayta :    St. 

Petersburg,  1640.  The  only  Russian  treatise  upon  the  subject  found.    Those  selections  most  pertinent  to  the  subject  are  introduced  abov$ 

in  my  translation.  The  italics  are  mine,  and  explanatory. — H.  W.  E. 
10 


146  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  inhabitants  subsist  principally  upon  the  flesh  of  fur-seals  and  sea-lions,  with  the  addition  of  roots  and  a 
little  flour.  In  the  summer  time,  between  June  and  September,  halibut  and  some  cod  are  caught  around  the  shore, 
and  altogether  the  living  of  these  Aleuts  is  excellent  and  even  luxurious,  compared  with  that  of  their  neighbors. 
The  station  is  supplied  with  provisions  and  trading-goods  from  Sitka,  the  ship  arriving  annually  in  June  and  July. 
As  there  is  no  safe  harbor,  these  vessels  must  receive  and  discharge  their  cargoes  under  sail. 

In  former  years,  up  to  1820  or  1821,  those  islands  were  under  the  control  of  the  Oonalashka  office.  The 
manager  of  St.  Paul  was,  until  the  year  18  !4,  also  in  charge  of  St.  George,  visiting  the  latter  island  every  spring  in 
a  bidarkie;  and,  though  these  navigators  cannot  see  from  one  island  to  the  other,  their  journeys  have  been  usually 
successful,  with  the  exception  of  three  occasions— twice  the  small  craft  missed  the  island  of  St.  George  (going  from 
St.  Paul),  and  pushed  on  to  the  coast  of  the  Alaskan  peninsula,  where  they  finally  secured  a  landing ;  and  in  the 
third  instance,  the  bidarrah  was  lost  altogether. 

On  the  island  of  St.  George  there  was  no  bay  or  entrance,  with  the  exception  of  a  shallow  bight  near  the  village 
(Zapadnie).  This  settlement  contains  a  wooden  chapel  erected  in  honor  to  St.  George,  log  buildings  occupied  by 
the  agent  of  the  company  and  his  servants,  and  a  number  of  barrabaras.  *  *  *  The  inhabitants  are,  however, 
in  less  comfortable  circumstances  than  those  of  St.  Paul.  Of  provisions,  they  have  a  great  abundance  of  sea  lion 
meat,  sea-birds  and  their  eggs.  The  eggs  are  obtained  by  lowering  a  person  over  the  precipitous  cliffs,  by  means 
of  seal-skin  ropes.  Many  perish  in  this  attempt  from  the  friction  of  the  strands  against  the  sharp  edges  of  the  rocks; 
and  occasionally  the  foxes  have  been  known  to  gnaw  off  the  ropes  on  which  the  hunters  were  suspended. 

Occasionally  shocks  of  earthquakes*  still  remind  us  of  the  volcanic  origin  of  the  Pribylov  islands.  Very 
heavy  ones  occurred  repeatedly  in  April  on  both  islands,  when  many  overhanging  cliff's  were  thrown  into  the  sea. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  Pribylov  islands  belong  to  the  parish  of  Oonalashka,  the  priest  of  which  is  obliged  to  visit 
them  once  every  two  years  (to  marry,  baptize,  etc).  These  islands  were  not  known  before  the  year  1786;  mate 
G.  Pribylov,t  then  in  the  service  of  a  swan-hunting  company,  first,  in  the  Kussian  name,  found  them,  but  at  the 
same  time  he  was  not  the  first  discoverer,  because,  as  before  said  (Part  I,  chap.  1,)  on  one  of  them  (southwest  side 
of  St.  Paul)  signs,  such  as  a  pipe,  brass  knife-handle,  and  traces  of  fire,  were  found,  indicating  that  people  had 
been  there  before,  but  not  long,  as  places  were  observed  where  the  grass  had  been  burned  and  scorched.  But  if 
we  can  believe  the  Aleuts  in  what  they  relate,  the  islands  were  known  to  them  long  before  they  were  visited  by 
the  Eussians.  They  knew  and  called  them  "Ateek",  after  having  heard  about  them. 

Eegad-dah-geek,  a  sou  of  an  Oonimak  chief  by  the  name  of  Ah-kak-nee-kak,  was  taken  out  to  sea  in  a  bidarkie 
by  a  storm,  the  wind  blowing  strong  from  the  south.  He  could  not  get  back  to  the  beach,  nor  could  he  make  any 
other  landing,  and  was  obliged  to  run  before  the  wind  three  or  four  days,  when  he  brought  up  on  St.  Paul 
island,  north  from  the  land  which  he  had  been  compelled  to  leave.  Here  he  remained  until  autumn,  and  became 
acquainted  with  the  hunting  of  different  animals.  Elegant  weather  one  day  setting  in,  he  saw  the  peaks  of 
Oonimak.  He  then  resolved  to  put  to  sea,  and  return  to  receive  the  thanks  of  his  people  there;  and,  after  three 
or  four  days  of  traveling,  he  arrived  at  Oonimak,  with  many  otter  tails  and  snouts,  f 

No  VEGETATION  ON  THE  ISLANDS. — The  islands  were  both  at  first  without  vegetation,  with  the  exception  of 
St.  Paul,  where  there  was  a  small  talneek  creeping  along  on  the  ground ;  and  on  St.  George,  if  we  believe  the 
accounts  of  the  first  ones  there  to  see,  nothing  grew,  even  grass,  except  on  the  places  where  the  carcasses  of  dead 
animals  rotted.  In  the  course  of  time  both  islands  were  covered  with  grass,  a  great  part  of  it  being  of  the  sedge 
kind.  On  them  are  two  varieties  of  berries,  etc.,  etc. 

EARLY  STATUS  OP  THE  COLONISTS. — The  Aleuts  serving  the  company  here  sustained  the  following  relations 
between  themselves  and  it,  to  wit:  each  of  them  worked-without  solicitation  and  at  whatever  was  found,  and  to 
which  they  were  directed,  or  at  that  which  they  understood.  Payment  for  their  toil  was  not  established  by  the  day 

*  These  shocks  probably  occurred  in  1796-'97,  when  Boga  SIov  island  was  raised,  in  April  or  May  of  that  year,  from  the  bed  of  Bering 
sea,  170  miles  directly  south  of  St.  George.  Such  eaithquakes  were  alto  characteristic  of  those  sub-tropical  fur-seal  islands,  Juaii 
Fernandez  and  Masafuera. — H.  W.  E. 

tGehrman  1'ribylov,  the  discoverer  of  the  seal-islands,  was  a  native  of  "old  Russia";  his  fatherwas  one  of  the  surviving  sailors  of  the 
"St.  Peter",  which  was  wrecked,  with  Beriug  in  command,  November  4,  1741,  on  Bering  island.  The  only  reference,  which  I  can  find 
to  him,  is  the  vague  incidental  expressions  used  here  and  there,  throughout  an  extended  series  of  lengthy  Russian  letters  published  by 
Techmaiuov,  as  illustrative  of  the  condition  of  affairs  in  regard  to  the  Russian  American  Company.  Pribylov  was,  when  cruising,  in 
178:}-'88,  for  the  rumored  seal-grounds,  merely  the  first  mate  of  the  sloop  "St.  George".  The  captain  and  part  owner  was  one  M.  Zubov, 
who  was  a  member  of  a  trading  association  then  quite  well  organized  in  Alaska,  and  known  as  the  "Laibedev  Lastochin"  company.  It 
does  not  appear  that  Pribylov  took  any  part  in  the  business  of  sealing,  other  than  that  of  remaining  in  charge  of  the  company's  vessels. 
He  died  while  in  discharge  of  these  duties,  at  Sitka,  March,  1790,  on  his  ship,  "The  Three  Saints"  ("  Tree  Svaytoi"'). 

Pribylov,  himself,  called  these  islands  of" his  discovery,  after  Zubov;  but  the  Russians  then,  and  soon,  unanimously  indicated  the 
group  by  its  present  well  deserved  title,  "Ostroeie  Pnbylova." — H.  W.  E. 

t  Here  Veniaminov  says  that  he  does  feel  inclined  to  believe  this  story,  as  the  peaks  of  Oonimak  can  be  seen  occasionally  from  St. 
Paul.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  they  were  never  observed  by  any  mortal  eye  from  the  Pribylov  group.  The  wide  expanse  of 
water  between  these  points,  and  the  thick,  foggy  air  of  Bering  sea,  especially  so  at  the  season  mentioned  in  this  story  above,  will  always 
make  the  mountains  of  Oonimak  invisible  to  the  eye  from  St.  Paul  island.  A  mirage  is  almost  an  impossibility;  it  may  have  been  much 
more  probable  if  the  date  was  a  winter  one.— H.  W.  E. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  117 

or  by  the  year,  but  in  general  for  each  thing  taken  by  them  or  standing  or  put  to  their  credit  by  the  company;  for 
instance,  especially  the  skins  of  animals,  the  teeth  of  walrus,  barrels  of  oil,  etc.  These  sums,  whatever  they  might 
be,  were  placed  by  the  company  to  their  credit,  for  all  general  hunting  and  working  was  established  or  fixed  for  the 
whole  year  fairly.  The  Alents,  in  general,  received  no  specific  wages,  though  they  were  not  all  alike  or  equal,  there 
being  usually  three  or  four  classes. 

In  these  classes,  to  the  last  or  least,  the  sick  and  old  workmen  were  counted,  although  they  were  only 
burdens,  and  therefore  they  received  the  smaller  shares,  about  150  rubles,  and  the  other  and  better  classes  received 
from  220  to  250  rubles  a  year.  Those  who  were  zealous  were  rewarded  by  the  company  with  50  to  100  rubles.  The 
wives  of  the  Aleuts,  who  worked  only  at  the  seal-hunting,  received  from  25  to  35  rubles.* 

ANIMALS  ON  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. — Foxes  and  mice.  Sometimes  the  ice  brings  bears  and  red  foxes. 
The  bears  were  never  allowed  to  live,  since  they  could  not  be  made  useful ;  and  also  the  red  foxes,  as  they  would 
only  spoil  the  breed  already  existing,  with  regard  to  color  of  the  fur. 

Fur-seals,  sea- lions,  hair-seals,  and  a  few  walrus  are  the  only  animals  that  may  be  said  to  belong  to  the  Pribylov 
islands. 

BIRDS. — The  guillemots  (or  arries);  gulls;  puffins;  crested,  horned,  and  white-breasted  auks;  snow-finches; 
geese  (two  kinds) ;  a  few  kinds  of  Tringa  ;  sea-ducks,  black  and  gray.  Most  of  these  birds  come  here  to  lay,  and 
with  them  jiigers,  hawks,  owls,  and  "chikees"  (big  Larus  glaucus),  and  the  albatross  is  frequently  to  be  seen 
around  the  beaches.  • 

Sea-otters  became  scarce  generally  in  1811,  and  in  the  next  thirty  years  extinct. 

The  fur  seals  ("sea-cats")  astonish  us  by  their  great  numbers,  as  they  gradually  come  up  on  to  their  breeding- 
places,  notwithstanding  harsh  and  foolish  treatment  of  them,  continued  almost  half  a  century  (until  1824),  without 
mercy. 

RUSSIAN  WASTE  AND  SLArGHTER. — In  the  first  years,  on  St.  Paul  island,  from  50,000  to  60,000  were  taken 
annually,  and  on  St.  George  from  40,000  to  50,000  every  year.  Such  horrible  killing  was  neither  necessary  nor 
demanded.  The  skins  were  frequently  taken  without  any  list  or  count.  In  1803,  800,000  seal-skins  had 
accumulated,  and  it  was  impossible  to  make  advantageous  sale  of  so  many  skins ;  for  in  this  great  number  so 
many  were  spoiled  that  it  became  necessary  to  cut  or  throw  into  the  sea  700,000  pelts.  If  G.  Besanov  (our  minister 
to  Japan)  had  not  given  this  his  attention,  and  put  himself  between  the  animals  and  this  foolish  management  of 
them,  it  appears  plainly  to  me  that  these  creatures  would  have  long  ago  changed  for  the  worse. 

2STo  RECORDS  PRIOR  TO  1817 :  EARLY  DRIVING. — Of  the  number  of  skins  taken  up  to  1817, 1  have  no  knowledge 
to  rely  upon,  but  from  that  time  and  up  to  the  present  writing,  I  have  true  and  reliable  accounts,  which  I  put  in  the 
appendix  to  this  volume.  From  these  lists  it  will  be  seen  that  still  in  1820,  on  both  islands,  there  were  killed  more 
than  50,000  seals,  viz,  on  St.  Paul,  39,700 ;  and  on  St.  George,  10,250.  There  were  eye-witnesses  to  the  reason  for 
this  diminution  of  the  seals,  and  it  is  only  wonderful,  beside,  that  they  are  still  existing,  as  they  have  been  treated 
almost  without  mercy  so  many  years.  The  cows  produce  only  one  pup  each,  every  year.  They  have  known  deadly 
enemies,  and  also  are  still  exposed  to  many  foes  unknown.  From  this  killing  of  the  seals  they  steadily  grew  less, 
except  on  one  occasion,  which  was  on  St.  George  island,  where  an  opportunity  was  given  suddenly  to  kill  a  large 
number;  but  the  circumstances  do  not  seem  to  be  important.  On  one  occasion  a  drive  was  made  of  15,000  male  and 
female  seals,  but  the  night  was  dark,  and  it  was  not  practicable  to  separate  the  cows  from  the  males,  and  they  were, 
therefore,  allowed  to  stand  over  until  daylight  should  come.  The  men  put  in  charge  of  the  herding  of  the  drove  were 
careless,  and  the  seals  took  advantage  of  this  negligence,  and  made  an  attempt  to  escape  by  throwing  themselves 
from  the  bluffs  over  the  beach  near  by  into  the  sea ;  but,  as  this  bluff  was  steep,  high,  rough,  and  slippery,  they 
fell  over  and  were  all  injured.  Xow,  for  the  first  time,  great  numbers  of  seals  were  missed,  and  why,  it  was  not 
significant  or  apparent ;  but  in  the  following  year,  instead  of  the  appearance  and  catch  of  40,000  or  50,000,  less 
than  30,000  were  killed  and  taken,  and  then,  too,  the  numbers  of  seals  were  known  to  diminish,  and  in  the  same 
way.  only  greater,  on  the  other  island.  For  instance,  in  the  first  years,  on  the  island  of  St.  George,  the  seals  were 
only  five  or  six  times  less  than  on  St.  Paul,  but  in  1817  they  were  only  less  than  "one-fourth ;  but  in  1826  they 
were  almost  one-sixth  again. 

The  diminution  of  seals  there  (St  Paul)  and  on  the  other  island,  from  1817  to  1835,  was  very  gradual  and 
visible  every  year,  but  not  always  equal. 

The  killing  of  seals  iu  1834,  instead  of  being  80,000  or  60,000,  was  only  15,751  from  both  islands  (St.  Paul, 
12,700;  St.  George,  3,051). 

SUM  TOTAL  OF  FUR  SEALS  TAKEN. — In  the  first  thirty  years  (according  to  Veniaminov's  best  understanding), 

*  Compare  this  annual  payment  of  the  Russians  with  the  cash  settlement  made  every  year  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  the 
present  lessee  of  these  islands,  us  indicated  by  a  prior  chapter  on  the  condition  of  the  business  there. — H.  W.  E. 


148  THE  FISHERIES  QF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

there  were  taken  "more  than  two  and  a  half  millions  of  seal-skins";  then,  in  the  next  twenty-one  years,  up  to  1838, 
they  took  578,924.  During  this  last  taking,  from  1817  to  1838,  the  skins  were  worth  on  an  average  "no  more  than 
30  rubles  each"  ($6  apiece).* 

A  great  many  sea-otters  (Enhydra  marina)  were  found  on  St.  Paul  island  at  first,  and  as  many  as  50,000 
were  taken  from  the  island,  but  years  have  passed  since  one  has  been  seen  in  the  vicinity,  even,  of  the  islands. 

32.  HISTOEY  OF  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  RUSSIAN-AMERICAN  FUR  COMPANY. 

PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS  PASS  INTO  ITS  CONTROL. — The  mention  made  by  Veniaminov,  of  the  occupation  of  the 
Pribylov  islands  immediately  after  their  discovery  by  a  score  or  so  of  rival  traders  and  their  butchering  suites, 
is  authentic ;  it  is  not  necessary  to  paint  the  selfish  details  of  the  mercenary  crews,  as  I  find  them  drawn  by  several 
Slavic  chroniclers.  In  1799  the  whole  territory  of  Alaska  went  into  the  control  of  the  Russian-American  Company, 
and  a  picture  of  this  organization,  which  managed  affairs  on  the  seal-islands  for  sixty-seven  long  years,  may  be 
interesting  in  this  connection. 

CAUSES  OP  EARLY  RUSSIAN  FUR-TRADE. — The  accidental  circumstances  connected  with  Bering's  ill-fated 
voyage  in  1741,  were  the  first  direct  means  of  impetus  given  to  Russian  exploration  and  trade  in  the  waters  of  the 
North  Pacific  and  Bering  sea;  the  skins  of  the  sea-otter  and  the  Jblue  foxes,  in  especial,  which  the  survivors  took 
from  Bering  island  back  to  Kamtchatka  and  Russia,  sold  for  such  high  prices  that  it  stimulated  a  large  number  of 
hardy,  reckless  men  to  scour  those  seas  in  search  of  fur-bearing  lauds.  This  trade,  thus  commenced,  was  for  many 
years  carried  on  by  individual  adventurers,  each  of  whom  acted  alternately  as  a  seaman,  as  a  hunter,  and  as  a 
trader,  solely  for  his  individual  profit. 

INCEPTION  OP  THE  RUSSIAN-AMERICAN  COMPANY. — At  length,  however,  an  association  was  formed  in  1785, 
among  a  number  of  Siberian  merchants,  to  carry  on  the  fur-trade  of  the  North  Pacific.  It  received  the  protection 
and  encouragement  of  the  Empress  Catherine,  who  bestowed  upon  it  many  valuable  privileges.  G.  Shellikov  was 
the  ruling  spirit  of  the  corporation.  Catherine's  son  and  successor,  Paul,  was  at  the  outset  of  his  reign,  disposed 
to  abolish  these  imperial  advantages  extended  to  this  company,  by  his  mother,  on  account  of  the  heartless  conduct 
of  affairs  in  Alaska.  Reasons  of  state,  however,  caused  him  to  abandon  this  resolution ;  and  he  issued  a  "  ukase  " 
dated  July  8,  1799,  which  granted  to  those  united  merchants,  aforesaid,  a  charter,  under  the  title  of  the  Russian- 
American  Company,  that  gave  them  exclusive  use  and  control,  for  a  period  of  twenty  years,  of  all  the  coasts  of 
America  on  the  Pacific  and  the  islands  in  that  ocean,  from  Bering  straits  to  the  55th  degree  of  south  latitude, 
together  with  the  right  of  occupying  any  other  territories  not  previously  possessed  by  civilized  nations.  The  residence 
of  the  directors  of  this  company  was  first  fixed  at  Irkutsk,  Siberia,  which  was  the  great  depository  or  bonded 
warehouse  for  the  Chinese  trade  with  all  the  Russias,  a  short  distance  only  from  Kiachta,  on  the  frontier,  where  the 
Mongols  and  Muscovites  alone  could  meet  for  barter;  it  was,  afterward,  transferred  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  these 
directors  were  personally  made  known  to  and  placed  under  the  surveillance  of  the  Imperial  Department  of  Commerce. 

Those  privileges,  thus  accorded  by  Paul,  were  confirmed  and  extended,  even,  by  Alexander;  and  under  these 
favorable  auspices  the  power  and  influence  of  the  Russian -American  Company  rapidly  advanced.  In  1803  its 
establishments  extended  from  Attoo  to  Sitka ;  during  1806  preparations  were  made  to  occupy  the  littoral  regions 
north  of  the  Columbia  river,  but  that  plan  was  soon  abandoned. 

AUTOCRATIC  POWER  OF  THE  RUSSIAN-AMERICAN  COMPANY. — The  government  of  Alaska  by  this  company 
•was  arranged  and  directed  in  simple  despotism ;  each  trading  post  was  superintended  by  a  Russian  overseer  or 
"precashcheek",  who,  with  the  aid  of  a  small  number  of  Russians,  maintained  absolute  control  over  all  the  natives 
in  his  district;  he  compelled  them  to  labor  incessantly,  in  and  out  of  season,  for  the  benefit  of  the  company;  these 
overseers  were  in  turn  under  abject  subserviency  to  a  chief  agent,  one  of  which  resided  in  the  limits  of  four  natural 
divisions  of  the  country ;  those  men  were  again  directly  responsible  to  the  authority  of  the  governor-general  who 
resided  at  Sitka,  and  who  was  appointed  really  by  the  imperial  government,  though  nominally  by  the  directors; 
his  powers  were  supposed  to  be  limited  and  defined  by  regulations  drawn  up  and  signed  by  him  in  St.  Petersburg; 
but,  in  fact,  they  were  absolute,  and  irresponsible  to  any  court  on  earth. 

THE  IRON-WILLED  BARANOV. — The  person  who  filled  the  oflice  of  governor-general  soon  after  the  organization 
of  the  Russian-American  Company  and  for  many  years  ai'terward,  was  Alexander  Baranov ;  he  was  a  man  of  iron 
will,  of  dauntless  courage,  shrewd  and  wholly  devoid  of  tender  feeling ;  under  his  autocratic  management  the 
affairs  of  this  company  prospered  pecuniarily,  and  its  stock  rose  accordingly  in  value;  hence  his  proceedings  were 
always  approved  at  St.  Petersburg,  although  the  truth  in  regard  to  his  cruelty  was  often  made  known  there. 

BAD  REPUTATION  OF  PROMYSHLENiKS. — In  addition  to  the  natives  themselves,  the  company  transported 
to  Alaska  some  four  or  five  hundred  Russians,  who  were  termed  "  promyshleniks",  or  "hunters".  They  were 
employed  as  trappers,  fishermen,  seamen,  soldiers  or  mechanics,  just  as  their  superiors  might  command,  and  they 

*Tbese  quotations  are  in  the  Alaskan  currency  of  that  period,  and  refer  to  paper  or  parchment  "rubles",  each  worth  about  20  cents 
specie.  See  table  of  Russian  weights,  values,  etc.,  in  the  Glossary.— H.  W.  E. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


149 


were  under  the  same  rule  as  that  I  have  just  described  as  applicable  to  the  natives ;  their  lot,  according  to 
Paul  von  Krusenstern,  a  Eussiau  who  voyaged  thither  in  1804-1805,  seems  to  have  been  more  uninviting  even 
tban  that  of  the  wretched  natives. 

BARANOV'S  ATTEMPT  TO  COLONIZE  CALIFORNIA. — Prior  to  1812,  Sitka  was  the  extreme  southern  limit  of  the 
Russian-American  Company.  But  old  Barauov,  greatly  annoyed  over  the  loss  of  supply  ships  from  the  Okotsk,  by 
which  their  bread,  at  Kadiak  and  Sitka,  was  cut  off  for  years  at  a  time,  determined  to  settle  at  some  place  south, 
where  these  necessaries  to  a  comfortable  physical  existence  could  be  raised  from  the  soil ;  so  he  asked  of  the 
Spanish  governor  at  Monterey  permission  to  erect  a  few  houses  on  the  shore  of  the  small  bay  at  Bodega,  California, 
in  order  to  "procure  and  salt  the  meat  of  the  wild  cattle"  which  overran  that  part  of  the  country,  north  of  the 
harbor  of  San  Francisco,  for  the  "  use  of  the  governor's  table  at  New  Archangel"  (Sitka).  The  Castilian  was  happy 
to  oblige  a  peer;  but,  in  the  lapse  of  three  or  four  years  after  this  permit  was  granted,  the  Russians  had  formed  a 
large  settlement,  built  a  fort,  and  had,  in  actuality,  taken  possession  of  the  country.  The  Spanish  governor  first 
remonstrated,  then  commanded  Baranov  to  move  off,  in  the  name  of  his  most  Catholic  majesty,  the  king  of  Spain. 
He  discovered  quickly,  to  his  infinite  chagrin,  that  the  Russian  had  abused  his  confidence,  and  defied  him.  The 
Spaniard  could  not  enforce  his  order,  and  Kuskov,  the  Russian  deputy  in  charge  at  Bodega,  openly  taunted  and 
resisted  him.  The  Russian-American  Company  remained  here  practically  unmolested,  until  1842,  when  they  sold 
their  fixtures  to  General  Sutter,  a  Swiss  American,  for  $30,000,  and  vacated  California. 

ATTEMPT  TO  SECUEE  THE  SANDWICH  ISLANDS. — In  1815  Baranov,  instead  of  feeling  chilled  by  the  California 
unpleasantness,  then  in  full  headway,  turned  his  ambitions  eyes  to  the  Sandwich  islands,  and  actually  despatched 
a  vessel,  or  rather  two  of  them,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Shaeffer,  a  German  surgeon,  who  landed  on  Atooi,  with 
cue  hundred  picked  Aleuts ;  but  they  were,  at  the  lapse  of  a  year,  so  discouraged  by  the  open  opposition  of  the 
Russian  government  to  this  scheme,  that  they  abandoned  the  project. 

RAPID  DECAY  OF  THE  RUSSIAN- AMERICAN  COMPANY  AFTER  THE  DEATH  OF  BARANOV. — In  1862,  when  the 
third  extension  of  the  twenty  years'  lease  had  expired,  the  affairs  of  the  Russian-American  Company  were  in  a  bad 
condition  financially — deeply  in  debt,  and  the  Imperial  government  was  not  disposed  to  renew  the  charter.  This 
state  of  affairs  gave  rise,  in  1864-'67,  to  negotiation  with  other  trading  organizations  for  the  lease,  which  finally 
culminated  in  the  purchase  of  Alaska  by  our  government  July,  1867.  Such,  in  brief,  was  the  Russian-American 
Company ;  it  flourished  under  Baranov,  but  declined  steadily  to  bankruptcy  twenty  years  after  his  removal,  when 
eighty  years  old,  on  account  of  extreme  age,  in  1818.  In  short,  its  great  compeer,  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  was 
very  much  earlier  initiated  in  the  same  manner  June,  1670;  then  it  finally  organized  with  the  Northwest  Company 
under  its  present  title,  with  renewed  royal  prerogatives  and  despotic  sway  over  all  British  North  America  in  1821 ; 
it  too  has  declined  to  a  commercial  cipher  to-day,  with  its  autocratic  rights  abob'shed  long  since ;  in  1857,  I  think ; 
they  were  wholly  rescinded;  its  subsidence  was  due,  however,  to  the  constant  increasing  white  settlement  of  its 
territory. 


33.  METEOROLOGICAL  ABSTRACT  FOR  THE  MONTHS,  FROM  SEPTEMBER,  1872,  TO  APRIL,  1873, 

INCLUSIVE. 

[Being  interesting  as  the  exhibit  of  an  unusually  severe  winter.    Made  by  Chas.  P.  Fish,  United  States  Signal  Service,  St.  Paul  island.] 


Character  of  observation. 

Months  of  record. 

Character  of  observation. 

Months  of  record. 

September. 

October. 

November. 

December. 

September. 

October. 

November. 

December. 

29.773 
30.40 
28.87 
1.59 
0.97 
0.03 
0.259 
44°.  2  * 
52° 
33° 
19° 
11° 
1° 
46°.  8 
41°.  8 
5°.0 

29.512 
30.04 
28.51 
1.53 
0.97 
0.04 
0.293 
36°.  0 
45° 
22° 
23° 
11° 
1° 
38°.7 
33°.  3 
5°.  4 

29.458 
30.23 
28.62 
1.61 
0.87 
0.06 
a  339 
34°.  3 
41° 
23° 

12° 
1° 
36°.  2 
31°.  5 

4°.  7 

29.488 
30.04 
28.05 
1.99 
0.80 
0.03 
0.249 
26°.  6 
37° 
4° 
33° 
11° 
1° 
29°.  1 
24° 

85.6 
100 
56 
N. 
9,138 
304.6 
12.7 
33 
92 
2.89 
0.85 

0.20 

30 

4 

83.9 
100 
65 
K 
11,812 
383 
16 
42 
84 
3.08 
0.58 

0.91 

29 
15 

86.6 
100 
60 
Be 
14,539 
484.6 
20.2 
74 
78.9 
2.38 
0.31 

0.82 

27 
17 

87.8 
100 

70 
N. 
16,644 
530.5 
22.1 
53 
84 
2.99 
0.43 

2.38 

27 

M 

Greatest  daily  range  of  barometer,  corrected  

Monthly  range  of  erposed  thermometer  
Greatest  daily  range  of  exposed  thermometer  

Amount  of  melted  hail  and  snow  (included  in 

rain-fall) 

Number  of  days  on  which  precipitation  oc- 

Mean  daily  range  of  exposed  thermometer  .   .  . 

Xnmber  of  days  on  which  hail  or  snow  fell  

150 


THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
34.  METEOROLOGICAL  ABSTRACT,  ETC.— Continued. 


Character  of  observation. 

Months  of  record. 

Character  of  observation. 

Months  of  record. 

I 

Febraary. 

March. 

! 

January. 

February. 

.a 

! 

Mean  of  barometer  corrected 

29.  953 
30.50 
29.32 
1.18 
0.58 
0.03 
0.194 
15°.7 
34° 
—  11° 
45° 
22° 
0° 
18°.9 
11°.9 
7°.0 

29.507 
30.51 
28.26 
2.25 
0.95 
0.06 
0.421 
18°.6 
34° 
—  120 
460 
280 
3° 
22°.  6 
150.1 
-0.5 

29.  768 
30.31 
29.05 
1.26 
0.66 
0.05 
0.219 
12°.6 
350 
—  70 
420 
20° 
30 
17°.l 
7°.4 
9°.7 

29.769 
30.35 
29.00 
1.35 
0.73 
0.03 
0.242 
230.9 
35° 
30 
32° 
24° 
3° 
27°.9 
190.4 
8°.  5 

Mean  relative  humidity  

85.7 

100 
53 
ENE. 
17,903 
577.5 
24.1 
43 
G2.8 
0.96 
0.39 

0.83 

21 

20 

86.2 
100 
49 
N. 
16,646 
594.3 
24.8 
82 
74.9 
5.78 
1.07 

4.87 

27 
25 

81.8 
100 
46 
N. 
14,  512 
468.1 
19.5 
88 
68 
1.21 
0.38 

1.21 

27 
27 

84.29 
100 
63 
N. 
18,607 
620.2 
25.84 
53 
73.6 
1.77 
0.50 

1.77 

26 
26 

Maximum  relative  hnmidity  .  

M                    ce  of  bar      eter  corrected 

Greatest  daily  range  of  barometer,  corrected  

a*        "      fb     >m  ter  corrected 

Maximum  hourl  y  velocity  of  wind  

Minimum  of  ex  Ised  thermometer 

Greatest  daily  amount  of  rain-fall  

Greatest  daily  range  of  exposed  thermometer  

Amount  of  melted  hail  and  anew  (included  in 
rain-fall)        .   

Number  of  days  on  which  precipitation  oc- 

Mean  of  minima  of  exposed  thermometer  

N  umber  of  days  on  which  hail  or  snow  fell  

CLASSIFICATION  OF  THE  WINDS. — The  winds,  here,  may  be  classified  under  two  heads:  Summer  winds — 
Blowing  fresh  during  June,  July,  and  August,  principally  from  the  west-northwest,  varied  with  light  airs  from  the 
northeast,  and  a  gale  or  two  from  the  southwest,  lasting  a  day  or  so.  Winter  winds — Stirring  fresh,  to  gales, 
throughout  September  to  June,  principally  from  the  northwest  to  north -northeast;  the  "boorgas",  or  snow  and 
sleet  storms,  coming  invariably  from  that  direction.  One  or  two  heavy  southeasters  occur  every  fall,  as  a  rule; 
in  October  generally;  the  brief  lulls  between  blasts  during  this  season  are  occupied  by  light  southerly  airs. 

The  summer  winds  are  always  charged  with  fog;  while  the  winter  gales  usually  blow  out  clear,  unless 
accompanied  with  sleety  spicul*  or  snow.  In  Siberia,  Wrangell  says  that  the  southwest  breezes  are  the  coldest ; 
the  north-northwest  ones  are  such  here.  The  southerly  airs  are  mild;  but,  I  never  felt  any  especial  warmth 
when  exposed  to  them. 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  BERINO  SEA  ICE. — The  descriptions  which  Wrangell,  Demetri  Laptev,  and  Hendenstrom 
have  given  of  the  behavior  of  the  ice  packs,  between  the  Kolyma  mouth  and  Cape  Chelagskoi,  were  duplicated,  in 
all  their  details,  by  the  floes  which  environed  St.  Paul  during  the  winter  of  my  residence  there.  Onthe27tb  May, 
1873,  the  ice  fields  around  the  island  seemed  as  solid  and  unbroken  to  every  point  of  the  compass  as  they  had  for 
th<?  five  months  preceding;  and  night  settled  over  them  in  this  shape;  early  in  the  morning  of  the  following  day, 
1  arose,  and,  judge  of  my  pleasant  astonishment  in  viewing  the  open  waters  of  Bering  sea  on  every  hand;  the  only 
suggestions  left  of  its  icy  fetters  were  the  numerous  scattered  cakes  of  thickest  floes,  which  bobbed  about  at  wide 
intervals,  there  was  little  or  no  strong  wind  attending  this  sudden  dissolution.  The  decomposition  of  the  ice  had 
taken  place  so  secretly  that  its  final  relegation  to  its  original  form  was  fairly  accomplished  almost  instantly  and 
simultaneously,  and  without  warning  to  human  eyes;  the  alternate  layering  of  salt,  in  ocean  water  ice,  accounts 
for  this  peculiar  vanishing  of  sea  floes. 

THE  FAILURE  OF  THE  BAROMETER  IN  BERING  SEA. — Pre-eminent  among  the  many  difficulties  in  the  path  of 
the  mariner  who  may  be  cruisiug  in  Bering  sea,  is  the  fact  that  his  barometer,  which  gives  such  timely  and 
intelligent  signals  of  warning,  or  of  confidence,  everywhere  on  the  high  seas  of  the  earth,  is,  up  here,  by  some  reason 
or  other,  wholly  impotent;  and  does  nothing  to  aid,  and  everything  to  confuse  and  distress  the  sailor.  Captain  M. 
C.  Erskine  assured  me  of  this;  and  his  declaration  is  proof  positive  to  my  mind  ;  he  is  undoubtedly,  by  the  long 
experience  of  more  than  fourteen  consecutive  seasons'  sailing  in  and  out  of  Bering  sea,  1867-1880  (this  year's  trip 
will'make  his  fifteenth  summer  in  those  waters),  the  most  thoroughly  posted  man,  living,  in  regard  to  the  currents, 
tides,  windi^and  waves  of  the  northwest  coast  between  San  Francisco  and  Bering  straits. 

With  the  exception  of  what  Parry  says  in  his  narrative  of  his  third  voyage  (1824),  I  do  not  find  any  specific 
mention  made. ''of  this  behavior  of  the,  barometer  in  the  north;  all  of  the  arctic  seamen,  unquestionably,  fully 
understand  i^s  utter  worthlessness  to  them.  Parry  declares  (Harper's  Family  Library,  p.  60,  vol.  ii)  "the  indications 
of  the  barometer  previous  to  and  during  this  gale  deserve  to  be  noticed,  because  it  is  only  about  Cape  Farewell  that, 
in  coming  from  the  northward  down  Davis  strait,  this  instrument  begins  to  speak  a  language  which  has  ever  been 
intelligible  to  us  as  a  wonther-glass". 

During  the  course  of  my  cruise  in  Bering  sea,  July-September,  187J,  the  barometer  was  carefully  noted,  and 
Captain  Baker  of  the  "Reliance"  satisfied  himself  that  the  less  attention  he  gave  to  it  the  better,  as  far  as  the 
success  of  our  voyage  was  concerned. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  151 

34.  THE  METHOD  OF  DRESSING  THE  FUR-SEAL  SKIN. 

How  SEAL-SKINS  ARE  DRESSED. — As  a  matter  of  interest  to  so  large  a  proportion  of  our  people  who  delight 
in  the  possession  of,  or  covet,  a  seal-skin  sacque,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  republishing  the  following  letter  in  a 
previous  brochure;  and,  as  it  answers  now  equally  well,  in  reply  to  the  query  as  to  how  the  natural  seal-skin  is 
tanned,  plucked,  and  dyed  so  as  to  pass  the  ordeal  of  fashionable  dress-parade,  I  herewith  reproduce  it,  stating 
simply,  in  doing  so,  that  the  writer  is  a  very  successful  operator,  and  one  whose  work,  when  finished  from  his  hands, 
is  said  to  be  always  equal,  and  often  superior,  to  the  best  English  manufacture.  It  was  written  to  me  in  answer 

to  my  question,  by  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  undersigned : 

ALBAXY,  October  22,  1874. 

SIR:  The  Alaska  Commercial  Company  sold  in  London,  December,  1873,  about  60,000  skins  taken  from  the  islands  leased  by  our 
government,  of  the  catch  of  1873.  The  remainder  of  the  catch,  about  40,000,  were  sold  in  March.  This  company  have  made  the  collection 
of  seal  from  these  islands  ranch  more  valuable  than  they  were  before  their  lease,  by  the  care  used  by  them  in  curing  the  skins  and  taking 
them  only  when  in  season.  We  have  worked  this  class  of  seal  for  several  years — when  they  were  owned  by  the  Russian  American  Fur 
Company,  and  during  the  first  year  they  were  owned  by  our  government. 

When  the  skins  are  received  by  us  in  the  salt,  we  wash  off  the  salt,  placing  them  upon  a  beam  somewhat  like  a  tanner's  beam,  removing 
the  fat  from  the  flesh  side  with  a  beaming-knife,  care  being  required  that  no  cuts  or  uneven  places  are  made  in  the  pelt.  The  skins  are 
next  washed  in  water  aud  placed  upon  the  beam  with  the  fur  up,  and  the  grease  and  water  removed  by  the  knife.  The  skins  are  then 
dried  by  moderate  heat,  being  tacked  out  on  frames  to  keep  them  smooth.  After  being  fully  dried,  they  are  soaked  in  water  and  thoroughly 
cleansed  with  soap  and  water.  In  some  cases  they  can  be  unhaired  without  this  drying  process,  and  cleansed  before  drying.  After  the 
cleansing  process  they  pass  to  the  picker,  who  dries  the  fur  by  stove-heat,  the  pelt  being  kept  moist.  When  the  fur  is  dry  he  places  the 
skin  on  a  beam,  and  while  it  is  warm  he  removes  the  main  coat  of  hair  with  a  dull  shoe-knife,  grasping  the  hair  with  his  thumb  and  knife, 
the  thumb  being  protected  by  a  rubber  cob.  The  hair  must  be  pulled  out,  not  broken.  After  a  portion  is  removed  the  skin  must  be 
again  warmed  at  the  stove,  the  pelt  being  kept  moist.  When  the  outer  hairs  have  been  mostly  removed,  he  us^  a  beaming-knife  to  work 
out  the  finer  hairs  (which  are  shorter),  and  the  remaining  coarser  hairs.  It  will  be  seen  that  great  care  must  be  used,  as  the  skin  is  in 
that  soft  state  that  too  much  pressure  of  the  knife  would  take  the  fur  also ;  indeed,  bare  spots  are  made.  Carelessly-cured  skins  are 
sometimes  worthless  on  this  account.  The  skins  are  next  dried,  afterward  dampened  on  the  pelt  side,  aud  shaved  to  a  fine,  even 
surface.  They  are  then  stretched,  worked,  and  dried ;  afterward  softened  in  a  fulling-mill,  or  by  treading  them  with  the  bare  feet  in  a 
hogshead,  one  head  being  removed  and  the  cask  placed  nearly  upright,  into  which  the  workman  gets  with  a  few  skins  and  some  fine, 
hardwood  sawdust,  to  absorb  the  grease  while  he  dances  upon  them  to  break  them  into  leather.  If  the  tkins  have  been  shaved  thin,  as 
required  when  finished,  any  defective  spots  or  holes  must  now  be  mended,  the  skin  smoothed  and  pasted  with  paper  on  the  pelt  side,  or 
two  pasted  together  to  protect  the  pelt  in  dyeing.  The  usual  process  in  the  United  States,  is  to  leave  the  pelt  sufficiently  thick  to  protect 
them  without  pasting. 

In  dyeing,  the  liquid  dye  is  put  on  with  a  brush,  carefully  covering  the  points  of  the  standing  fur.  After  lying  folded,  with  the  points 
touching  each  other,  for  some  little  time,  the  skins  are  hung  up  and  dried.  The  dry  dye  is  then  removed,  another  coat  applied,  dried,  and 
removed,  and  so  on  until  the  required  shade  is  obtained.  One  or  two  of  these  coats  of  dye  are  put  on  much  heavier  and  pressed  down  to 
the  roots  of  the  fur,  making  what  is  called  the  ground.  From  eight  to  twelve  coats  are  required  to  produce  a  good  color.  The  skins  are 
then  washed  clean,  the  fur  dried,  the  pelt  moist.  They  are  shaved  down  to  the  required  thickness,  dried,  working  them  some  while 
drying,  then  softened  in  a  hogshead,  and  sometimes  run  in  a  revolving  cylinder  with  fine  sawdust  to  clean  them.  The  English  process 
does  not  have  the  washing  after  dyeing. 

I  should,  perhaps,  say  that,  with  all  the  care  used,  many  skin  s  are  greatly  injured  in  the  working.  Quite  a  quantity  of  English  dyed 
seal-skins  were  sold  last  season  for  ?17,  damaged  in  the  dye. 

The  above  is  a  general  process,  but  we  are  obliged  to  vary  for  different  skins.  Those  from  various  parts  of  the  world  require  different 
treatment :  and  there  is  quite  a  difference  in  the  skins  from  the  seal-islands  of  our  country — I  sometimes  think  about  as  much  as  in  tho 
human  race. 

Yours,  with  respect, 

GEO.  C.  TREADWELL  &  CO. 
H.  W.  ELLIOTT,  Esq. 

FUR-SEAL  SKINS  ARE  OF  PERMANENT  VALUE. — I  have  frequently  been  asked  whether,  in  the  light  of  probable 
caprices  of  fashion,  the  value  of  fur-seal  skins  would  at  times  shrink  to  a  mere  nominal  figure,  or  not.  I  think 
the  history  of  this  trade  during  the  last  twenty  years,  at  least,  and  since  the  skins  have  been  treated  for  market  a« 
above  recited,  that  this  record  shows  the  fur-seal  skin  to  be  an  article  of  intrinsic  value,  just  as  objects  of  luxurious 
gold  and  silver  work,  of  precious  stones,  are,  and  always  will  be,  no  matter  what  the  style  may  decree.  That 
the  demand  made  by  the  "mode"  will  sensibly  appreciate  their  fixed  high  value  is  also  very  certain,  as  it  does  so 
to-day;  but,  withdraw  it,  the  seal-skin  is  still  a  costly  purchase  to  the  wearer,  and  will  ever  be  so. 

35.  BERING,  XOT  BEHRLXG. 

BERING,  HIMSELF,  WROTE  HIS  NAME,  "BERING".— I,  myself,  do  not  understand  the  reason  why  a  false  sound 
should  be  given  to  this  navigator's  name,  when  our  alphabet  is  fully  equal  to  its  correct  rendition.  Here  is  tlie  ^fty 
the  Russians  write  it,  and  Bering  himself  signed  his  name  EH  pn  H  ™  =  B  e  r  i  n  g ,  (orJJereng),  exactly  fn  our  owu 
letter  sounds.  Yet  this  unwarranted  corruption  of  the  true  equivalent  of  a  celebrated  name  continues  to  be  the 
common  form  of  its  expression  by  publication  in  England  and  this  country.  The  Russians  and  the  Danes  sound  the 
letter  "r"  in  Bering  precisely  as  we  do;  and  the  softened  flattened  "smindof  ;'r''.  indicated  by  Itekrinft.  is  an  error 
that  should  be  avoided.  It  is  originally  a  German  corruption.  Tho*  Teutonic  writef^have  made  the  Russian 


152  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

nomenclature,  as  translated  for  us,  by  them,  look  strange  and  sound  odd  to  hundreds  of  English  minds  who  know 
better ;  but  Forster,  whom  I  quote  below,  was  also  a  German,  and  hence  his  testimony  to  the  correct  orthography 
of  the  subject  in  question,  is  all  the  more  valuable,  especially  so,  since  he  says  in  the  preface  to  his  work  there 
cited  :  "The  numerous  researches  upon  which,  more  especially  in  the  ancient  part,  and  that  relative  to  the  middle 
ages,  I  was  obliged  to  enter,  the  multifarious  departments  of  learning,  from  which  I  have  derived  some  of  the 
following  notes  and  remarks,  the  orthography  of  a  proper  name,  has  frequently  cost  me  hours,  and  sometimes 
whole  days." 

COGENT  REASONS  WHY  IT  is  "BERING". — Also  in  this  relation,  Professor  Gill,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 
informs  me  that  "the  name  of  the  navigator,  which  has  been  conferred  on  the  strait  separating  America  and  Asia, 
is  unquestionably  spelled  BERING  and  not  BEHRING.  I  submit  in  explanation  my  reasons:  1st.  The  navigator 
himself  was  born  in  Jutland,  and  a  scion  of  a  Danish  family,  whose  members  bore  the  name  of  Bering,  and  two 
representatives  of  which  had  the  same  Christian  name,  viz,  (1)  Vitus  Bering,  born  1617,  died  1G75,  some  time 
professor  of  poetry  at  Copenhagen,  and  (2)  Vitus  Bering,  born  1682,  died  1753,  a  priest  of  Ollerup  and  Kirkeby. 
The  form  Behring,  so  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  is  unknown  in  Denmark  (see  Nyerup's  Dansk-Norsk  Litteratur- Lexicon: 
v.  i,  pp.  56,  57, 1818).  2d.  The  form  Bering  is  almost  (but  not  quite)  universally  adopted  in  all  non-English  works, 
for  example,  Biographic  Universelle  (Michaud):  v.  4,  p.  261,  1811;  also  nouv.  £d.:  v.  4,  p.  28,  1854;  Nouvelle 
Biographic  Geue"rale  (Hoefer):  v.  5,  p.  527,  1855;  Allgeineine  Encyclopedic  der  Wisseuschaften  und  Kiiuste  (Ersch 
und  Gruber):  v.  9,  p.  136,1822;  Neues  Konversations-Lexicon  (Meyer's) :  v.  3,  p.  238,  1862;  Deutsch-Amerikanisches 
Conversations-Lexicon  (Schem) :  v.  2,  p.  296, 1869,  and  numerous  others.  The  exceptional  cases  are  Pierer's  Universal 
Lexicon,  Grand  Dictionnaire  Universel  du  xixe  siecle,  etc.  In  English  dictionaries,  the  true  form.  Bering,  is  adopted 
in  the  Brief  Biographical  Dictionary,  by  Holes,  1865,  and  the  Dictionary  of  Biographical  Reference,  by  Phillips, 
1871,  and  is  gradually  superseding  the  more  familiar  English  form.  An  explanation  of  the  reason  of  the  origin 
of  the  name  Behring,  is  found  in  the  fact  that  it  was  originally  derived  from  the  Russian,  without  a  knowledge  of 
its  primitive  source,  and  was  the  supposed  English  phonetic  expression  of  the  Russian  characters.  Inasmi/ch, 
however,  (1)  as  the  original  form  of  a  name,  without  regard  to  its  pronunciation,  is  universally  adopted  in  our 
biographies  and  bibliographies,  and  (2)  as  the  original  form  of  the  navigator's  name  was  Bering,  such  is  the  correct 
one,  and  that  which  must  ultimately  supersede  the  other.  It  need  only  be  added  that  Bering  himself,  and  the 
Russians  universally,  (?)  adopt  that  form  when  writing  in  English  characters,  and  that  the  Russian  letter  ('B')  in 
his  name,  represented  by  '  eh, '  is  especially  ordained  by  the  Russians  to  be  rendered  by  the  Latin  character  '  e,' 
in  accordance  with  the  pronunciation  of  the  Latin  and  continental  races  generally." 

In  addition  to  this  clear  statement  by  Professor  Gill,  I  desire  to  add  the  following :  John  Reinhold  Forster,  I. 
U.  D.,  who  sailed  around  the  world  with  Captain  Cook — a  man  that  universally  commanded  respect  in  his  day 
as  a  scholar  and  a  high-minded  gentleman — in  his  Voyages  and -Discoveries  in  the  North,  London,  1783,  pp.  401-402, 
writes:  "Nevertheless,  it  would  be  still  more  proper  to  make  this  strait  a  kind  of  monument  to  the  very  deserving 
and  truly  great  navigator,  Veit  Bering,  by  naming  it,  after  him,  Bering  straits." 

THE  COMMON  ERROR  OF  "OFF"  FOR  "ov". — Furthermore,  in  this  connection,  it  will  be  noticed  that  I  do  not 
spell  the  common  Russian  terminative  "OUT,"  as  "-off";  these  letters  "OUT,"  in  the  Russian,  are  sounded  by  their 
makers  exactly  as  we  would  "oc"  inourown  alphabet;  for  instance,  take  the  name  "Baranov,"  or  "Eapanom"  in  the 
Russian;  the  common  English  and  German  spelling  in  our  language  is  "Baranoff";  but,  when  these  same  writers 
come  to  "  EapaiioBHii",  instead  of  making  it  "Baranqfitch",  according  to  their  first  erroneous  rule,  they  spell  it 
correctly,  "•Baranovilch."  In  the  same  way  they  murder  "Pribylov" ;  but  did  they  chance  to  wr  te  it  in  the 
possessive,  it  would  appear  correctly  as  "Pribylova",  and  not  "Pribyloffa".  The  Russians  have  our  letter  "/",  as 
"*"  in  their  alphabet;  and  they  use  it  freely  when  they  want  to  express  that  same  sound  of  "/"  in  our  tongue; 
for  instance,  in  "Timothy",  they  always  say  "Timofay"  (Tnsio*efn>) :  " Officer,"  is  "  Ojfitsar,"  etc. 

THE  UNWARRANTED  "  W"  FOR  "  V ". — This  unsettled  state  of  English  orthography,  as  far  as  it  relates  to  the 
introduction  and  correct  rendition  of  Russian  nomenclature,  produces  much  embarrassment  and  annoyance  to  any 
writer  who  may  seek  for  a  fixed  rule;  not  only  do  no  two  authors  agree,  but  these  authorities  themselves  arc  guilty 
of  the  inconsistencies  which  I  have  pointed  out  above.  Thus,  these  German  translations  of  the  Russian  have 
given  us  "Moscow",  when  there  is  no  sound  of  "  W"  in  the  Russian  language  or  suggestion  of  it  in  that  facile  and 
extensive  alphabet  of  nearly  forty  letters.  In  the  case  of  Moscow,  I  presume  we  must  be  guided  by  the  authority 
and  example  of  Gibbon,  who  declares  that  "some  words,  notoriously  corrupt,  are  fixed,  and  as  it  were,  naturalized 
in  the  vulgar  tongue.  The  prophet  Mohammed  can  no  longer  be  stripped  of  the  famous,  though  improper, 
appellation  of  Mahomet;  the  well-known  cities  of  Aleppo,  Damascus,  and  Cairo,  would  almost  be  lost  in  the  strange 
descriptions  of  Hakb,  Damashk,  and  Al  Cahira." 

HIGH  TIME  TO  CORRECT  SUCH  BLUNDERS. — But,  in  all  kindness,  I  submit  that  the  name  of  Bering  has 
not  been  so  firmly  travestied  as  has  that  of  the  Arabic  chief,  and  ought  not  to  be  passed  down  misspelled  on  the  map 
of  the  great  sea  and  straits  which  perpetuate  and  commemorate  his  being.  And  it  is  high  time  such  numberless 
outrages  as  "Wolga",  for  "Volga";  "Kiew",  for  "Kiev";  "Azow",  for  "Azov";  "Pribiloff",  for  "Pribylov"; 
"  Werst ",  for  "  Verst ",  be  corrected  in  all  future  printing  of  Russian  nomenclature. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  153 

36.  THE  LAW  PROTECTING  THE  SEAL  ISLANDS. 

AN  ACT  to  prevent  the  extermination  of  far-bearing  animals  in  Alaska. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  it  shall  be  unlawful  to  kill  any  fur-seal  upon  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  or  in  the  waters 
adjacent  thereto,  except  during  the  months  of  June,  July,  September,  and  October,  in  each  year;  and  it  shall  be 
unlawful  to  kill  such  seals  at  any  time  by  the  use  of  fire-arms,  or  use  of  other  means  tending  to  drive  the  seals  away 
from  said  islands :  Provided,  That  the  natives  of  said  islands  shall  have  the  privilege  of  killing  such  young  seals  as 
may  be  necessary  for  their  own  food  and  clothing  during  other  months,  and  also  such  old  seals  as  may  be  required 
for  their  own  clothing  and  for  the  manufacture  of  boats  for  their  own  use,  which  killing  shall  be  limited  and 
controlled  by  such  regulations  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  unlawful  to  kill  any  female  seal,  or  any  seal  less  than  one  year 
old.  at  any  season  of  the  year,  except  as  above  provided;  and  it  shall  also  be  unlawful  to  kill  any  seal  in  the  waters 
adjacent  to  said  islands,  or  on  the  beaches,  cliffs,  or  rocks  where  they  haul  up  from  the  sea  to  remain  ;  and  any 
person  who  shall  violate  either  of  the  provisions  of  this  or  the  first  section  of  this  act,  shall  be  punished  on 
conviction  thereof,  for  each  offense,  by  a  fine  of  not  less  than  two  hundred  dollars  nor  more  than  one  thousand 
dollars,  or  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  six  mouths,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  imprisonment,  at  the  discretion  of 
the  court  having  jurisdiction  and  taking  cognizance  of  the  offenses;  and  all  vessels,  their  tackle,  apparel,  and 
furniture,  whose  crew  shall  be  found  engaged  iu  the  violation  of  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  be  forfeited 
to  the  United  States. 

SEC.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  for  the  period  of  twenty  years  from  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act, 
the  number  of  fur-seals  which  may  be  killed  for  their  skins  upon  the  island  of  St.  Paul  is  hereby  limited  and 
restricted  to  seventy  five  thousand  per  annum ;  and  the  number  of  fur-seals  which  may  be  killed  for  their  skins 
upon  the  island  of  St.  George,  is  hereby  limited  and  restricted  to  twenty-five  thousand  per  annum :  Prorided, 
That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may  restrict  and  limit  the  right  of  killing,  if  it  shall  become  necessary  for  the 
preservation  of  such  seals,  with  such  proportionate  reduction  of  the  rents  reserved  to  the  government  as  shall  be 
right  and  proper;  and  if  any  person  shall  knowingly  violate  either  of  the  provisions  of  this  section,  he  shall,  upon 
due  conviction  thereof,  be  punished  in  the  same  way  as  is  provided  herein  for  a  violation  of  the  provisions  of  the 
first  and  second  sections  of  this  act. 

SEC.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  immediately  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
shall  lease,  for  the  rental  mentioned  in  section  6  of  this  act,  to  proper  and  responsible  parties,  to  the  best  advantage 
of  the  United  States.  Laving  due  regard  to  the  interests  of  the  government,  the  native  inhabitants,  the  parties 
heretofore  engaged  in  the  trade,  and  the  protection  of  the  seal-fisheries,  for  a  term  of  twenty  years  from  the  1st 
day  of  May,  1870,  the  right  to  engage  in  the  business  of  taking  fur-seals  on  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St. 
George,  and  to  send  a  vessel  or  vessels  to  said  islands  for  the  skins  of  such  seals,  giving  to  the  lessee  or  lessees  of 
said  islands  a  lease  duly  executed,  iu  duplicate,  not  transferable,  and  taking  from  the  lessee  or  lessees  of  said  islands 
a  bond,  with  sufficient  sureties,  in  a  sum  not  less  than  $500,000,  conditioned  for  the  faithful  observance  of  all  the 
laws  and  requirements  of  Congress,  and  of  the  regulations  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  touching  the  subject- 
matter  of  taking  fur-seals  and  disposing  of  the  same,  and  for  the  payment  of  all  taxes  and  dues  accruing  to  the 
United  States  connected  therewith.  And  in  making  said  lease  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  have  due  regard 
to  the  preservation  of  the  seal-fur  trade  of  said  islands,  and  the  comfort,  maintenance,  and  education  of  the  natives 
thereof.  The  said  lessees  shall  furnish  to  the  several  masters  of  vessels  employed  by  them  certified  copies  of  the 
lease  held  by  them,  respectively,  which  shall  be  presented  to  the  government  revenue-officer  for  the  time  being, 
who  may  be  in  charge  at  the  said  islands,  as  the  authority  of  the  party  for  lauding  and  taking  skins. 

SEC.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  at  the  expiration  of  said  term  of  twenty  years,  or  on  surrenderor  forfeiture 
of  any  lease,  other  leases  uiay  be  made  in  manner  as  aforesaid  for  other  terms  of  twenty  years;  but  no  persons  other 
than  American  citizens  shall  be  permitted,  by  lease  or  otherwise,  to  occupy  said  islands,  or  either  of  them,  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  the  skins  of  fur-seals  therefrom,  nor  shall  any  foreign  vessel  be  engaged  in  taking  such  skins; 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  vacate  and  declare  any  lease  forfeited,  if  the  same  be  held  or  operated  for 
the  use,  benefit,  or  advantage,  directly  or  indirectly,  of  any  person  or  persons  other  than  American  citizens.  Every 
lease  shall  contain  a  covenant  on  the  part  of  the  lessee  that  he  will  not  keep,  sell,  furnish,  give,  or  dispose  of  any 
distilled  spirits  or  spirituous  liquors  on  either  of  said  islands  to  any  of  the  natives  thereof,  such  person  not  being 
a  physician  and  furnishing  the  same  for  use  as  medicine;  and  any  person  who  shall  kill  any  fur-seal  on  either  of 
said  islands,  or  in  the  waters  adjacent  thereto  (excepting  natives  as  provided  by  this  act),  without  authority  of  the 
lessees  thereof,  and  any  person  who  shall  molest,  disturb,  or  interfere  with  said  lessees,  or  either  of  them,  or  their 
agents  or  employes,  in  the  lawful  prosecution  of  their  business,  under  the  provisions  of  this  act.  shall  be  deemed 
guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  shall  for  each  offense,  on  conviction  thereof,  be  punished  in  the  same  way  and  by  like 
penalties  as  prescribed  in  the  second  section  of  this  act:  and  all  vessels,  their  tackle,  apparel,  appurtenances,  and 
cargo,  whoe  crews  shall  be  found  engaged  in  any  violation  of  either  of  the  provisions  of  this  section,  shall  be 


154  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

forfeited  to  the  United  States ;  and  if  any  person  or  company,  under  any  lease,  herein  authorized,  shall  knowingly 
kill,  or  permit  to  be  killed,  any  number  of  seals  exceeding  the  number  for  each  island  in  this  act  prescribed,  such 
person  or  company  shall,  in  addition  to  the  penalties  and  forfeitures  aforesaid,  also  forfeit  the  whole  number  of  the 
skins  of  seals  killed  in  that  year,  or,  in  case  the  same  have  been  disposed  of,  then  said  person  or  company  shall 
forfeit  the  value  of  the  same.  And  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  any  revenue  officer,  officially  acting  as  such  on  either  of 
said  islands,  to  seize  and  destroy  any  distilled  spirits  or  spirituous  liquors  found  thereon ;  Provided,  That  such  officer 
shall  make  detailed  report  of  his  doings  to  the  collector  of  the  port. 

SEC.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  annual  rental  to  be  reserved  by  said  lease,  shall  be  not  less  than 
fifty  thousand  d^llara  per  annum,  to  be  secured  by  deposit  of  United  States  bonds  to  that  amount,  and  in  addition 
thereto  a  revenue  tax  or  duty  of  two  dollars  is  hereby  laid  upon  each  fur-seal  skin  taken  and  shipped  from  said 
islands  during  the  continuance  of  such  lease,  to  be  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States ;  and  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  is  hereby  empowered  and  authorized  to  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  for  the  collection 
andrpayment  of  the  same;  and  to  secure  the  comfort,  maintenance,  education,  and  protection  of  the  natives  of  said 
islands,  and  also  for  carrying  into  full  effect  all  the  provisions  of  this  act;  Provided,  That  the  Secretary  of  the 
freasury  may  terminate  any  lease  given  to  any  person,  company,  or  corporation,  on  full  and  satisfactory  proof  of  the 
violation,  of  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  or  rules  and  regulations  established  by  him. 

jM  SEC.  7.  And  ty  it  further  enacted,  That  the  provisions  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  sections  of  an  act  entitled 
"An  act  to;extend  the  laws  of  the  United  States  relating  to  customs,  commerce,  and  navigation  over  the  territorj 
ceded  to  the  United  States  by  Eussia,  to  establish  a  collection  district  therein,  and  for  other  purposes",  approve! 
July  27,  ^868,  shall  be  deemed  to  apply  to  this  act ;  and  all  prosecution  for  offenses  committed  against  the  provision* 
of  this  act,  and  all  other  proceedings  had  because  of  the  violations  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  which  are 
authorized  by  said  act  above  mentioned,  shall  be  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  thereof,  and  all  acts  and  parts 
of  acts-fficonsistent  with  the  provisions  of  this  act  are  hereby  repealed. 

Sijti.'  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  Congress  may  at  any  time  hereafter  alter,  amend,  or  repeal  this  act. 
4  Approved  July  1,  *870. 

AMENDED,  MARCH  24,  1874. — Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  That  the  act  entitled  "  An  act  to  prevent  the  extermination 
of  fur-bearin*g/ animate  in  Alaska",  approved  July  first,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy,  is  hereby  amended  so  as  to 
authorize  the.JSecretary^f  "the  Treasury,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized,  to  designate  the  months  in  which  the  fur- 
seals  majufee^taken  for  nieir  skins  on  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  in  Alaska,  and  in  the  waters  adjacent 
thereto,  and  the  number  to  be  taken  on  or  about  each  island  respectively. 

37.    THE  ORGANIZATION  AND  REGULATIONS  OF  THE  ALASKA  COMMERCIAL  COMPANY. 

* 

BY-LAWS  OF   THE   ALASKA  COMMERCIAL   COMPANY,   SAN  FRANCISCO,   CALIFORNIA. 

~f.  The  corporate  name  of  this  company  is  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  and  its  affairs  are  under  the 
control  of  five  trustees,  who  shall  hereafter  be  chosen  by  the  stockholders  of  the  company  on  the  second  Wednesday 
of  June  in  each  year,  and  who  shall  hold  office  until  their  successors  are  elected.  The  annual  meetings  of  the 
stockholders  shall  be  held  at  the  office  of  the  company.  At  all  elections  of  trustees  by  the  stockholders,  each 
stockholder  shall  be  entitled  to  one  vote  for  every  share  of  stock  held  by  him  on  the  books  of  the  company. 
Stockholders  may  vote  by  proxy.  All  proxies  shall  be  signed  by  the  party  owning  the  stock  represented. 

II.  The  principal  place  of  business  of  the  company  is  San  Francisco,  California. 

III.  The  regular  meetings  of  the  board  of  trustees  will  be 'held  at  the  office  of  the  company  on  the  first 
Wednesday  in  each  month,  at  12  o'clock  m.,  and  no  notice  of  such  meeting  to  any  of  the  trustees  shall  be  requisite. 
Other  meetings  of  the  board  of  trustees  may  be  held  upon  the  call  of  the  president,  by  notice,  signed  by  him,  of  the 
time  and  place  of  meeting,  personally  served  on  each  trustee  residing  within  this  state,  or  published  in  a  newspaper 
of  general  circulation  in  San  Francisco  for  ten  days  successively  next  preceding  the  day  .of  such  meeting.     Special 
meetings  may  be  held  upon  notice,  signed  by  three  trustees,  stating  the  time  and  place  of  meeting,  and  the  purpose 
for  which  the  meeting  is  called,  having  been  duly  served  on  each  trustee,  or  published  in  a  newspaper  of  general 
circulation  in  San  Francisco  for  ten  days  successively  next  preceding  the  day  of  meeting,  and  no  business  other 
than  that  specified  in  the  notice  shall  be  transacted  at  such  special  meeting.    At  all  meetings  of  the  board  any 
three  of  the  trustees  being  present  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  the  business  of  the  company. 
Adjourned  meetings  may  be  held  in  pursuance  of  a  resolution  of  the  board  adopted  at  any  regular  or  general 
meeting  of  the  board.    Any  three  trustees  elected  at  any  annual  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of  the  company,  and 
being  present  at  the  close  of  such  stockholders'  meeting  may,  on  the  same  day,  without  notice  to  any  of  the  trustees, 
meet  and  organize  the  board  by  the  election  of  officers,  and  may  transact  such  other  business  as  may  come  before 
the  board  at  such  meeting. 

IV.  The  officers  of  the  company  shall  consist  of  a  president,  a  vice-president,  and  a  secretary,  who  shall  be 
chosen  by  the  board  of  trustees  at  their  first  meeting  after  the  annual  election  of  trustees;  such  officers  to  hold 
office  one  year,  or  until  their  successors  are  elected. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  155 

T.  The  president,  or  in  his  absence  the  vice-president,  shall  preside  at  the  meeti'  gs  of  the  board.  In  case 
neither  is  present,  the  board  may  appoint  a  president  pro  tempore. 

VI.  All  vacancies  in  the  board  may  be  filled  by  the  board  at  the  next  meeting  after  the  existence  of  such 
vacancy,  and  it  shall  require  the  affirmative  vote  of  three  trustees  to  elect.  In  case  of  any  vacancy  occurring  among 
the  officers  or  agents  of  the  company,  the  same  may  be  filled  at  any  meeting  of  the  board. 

TIL  All  certificates  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  company  shall  be  signed  by  the  president  and  secretary,  attested 
by  the  corporate  seal  of  the  company,  and  can  be  issued  to  the  parties  entitled  thereto  or  their  authorized  agent. 
All  transfers  of  stock  shall  be  made  on  the  books  of  the  company  by  the  secretary,  upon  surrender  of  the  original 
certificate  or  certificates,  properly  indorsed  by  the  party  in  whose  favor  the  same  was  issued.  No  stock  shall  be 
transferred  to  any  person  not  a  stockholder  of  the  company  at  the  time  of  such  transfer,  unless  the  same  shall  have 
been  offered  for  sale  to  the  company,  or  stockholders  of  the  company,  and  the  purchase  at  the  fair  cash  or  market 
value  refused,  except  by  authority  of  a  resolution  of  the  board  of  trustees  permitting  such  transfer. 

Till.  The  corporate  seal  of  the  company  consists  of  a  die  of  the  following  words:  "Alaska  Commercial-' 
Company,  San  Francisco,  California." 

IX.  The  corporate  seal,  and  all  property,  securities,  interests  and  business  of  the  company,  shall  be  under  the 
control  and  general  management  of  the  president,  subject  to  the  direction  of  the  board  of  trustees.    The  funds  |f 
the  company  shall  be  deposited  (from  time  to  time  as  they  are  received)  to  the  credit  of  the  company,  with  ft  bank 
doing  business  in  San  Francisco,  to  be  designated  by  the  president,  and  the  said  funds  can  be  drawn  from  such 
bank  only  by  proper  checks  or  drafts,  signed  by  the  president  or  vice-president  of  the  company.    The  books  of  the 
company  shall  be  kept  by  the  secretary,  who  shall  also  keep  a  correct  record  of  all  the  proceedings  of  the  board  of 
trustees -had  at  their  meetings,  and  perform  such  other  duties  as  the  board  of  trustees  may  require. 

X.  The  pay  and  salaries  of  all  officers  of  the  company  shall  be  determined,  from  time  to  time,  by  th#  bo»d  of 
trustees. 

XL  The  president  of  the  company  shall  have  power  to  appoint  and  employ  such  general  business  Agents, 
factors,  attorneys,  clerks,  and  other  employes  as  he  may  deem  proper  and  requisite  for  conducting  the  business  and 
affairs  of  the  company ;  and  he  shall  fix  the  pay,  commissions,  or  salaries  of  all  such  agents,  factors,  attorneys, 
clerks,  and  other  employe's,  from  time  to  time,  as  circumstances  shall  require. 

XII.  All  transfers  of  the  capital  stock  of  this  company,  made  to  persons  not  citizens  of  the  United  jStates,  or 
made  for  the  use  or  benefit  of  any  citizen  or  citizens  of  any  foreign  government,  are  absolutely  void. 

XIII.  Dividends  from  the  net  profits  of  the  company  may  be  declared  and  paid  by  order  of  the  board  of 
trustees,  in  accordance  with  law. 

XIT.  These  by-laws  may  be  altered  or  amended  by  the  board  of  trustees  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law. 

REGULATIONS  FOR  CONDUCT  OF  AFFAIRS  ON  THE  SEAL-ISLANDS. 

OFFICE  ALASKA  COMMERCIAL  COMPANY, 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  January,  1872. 

The  following  regulations  are  prescribed  for  the  guidance  of  all  concerned: 

1.  The  general  management  of  the  company's  afl'airs  on  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  is  intrusted 
to  one  general  agent,  whose  lawful  orders  and  directions  must  be  implicitly  obeyed  by  all  subordinate  agents  and 
employes. 

*2.  Seals  can  only  be  taken  on  the  islands  during  the  months  of  June,  July,  September,  and  October  in  each 
year,  except  those  killed  by  the  native  inhabitants,  for  food  and  clothing,  under  regulations  prescribed  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Female  seals  and  seals  less  than  one  year  old  will  not  be  killed  at  any  time,  and  the 
killing  of  seals  in  the  waters  surrounding  the  islands,  or  on  or  about  the  rookeries,  beaches,  cliffs,  or  rocka,  where 
they  haul  up  from  the  sea  to  remain,  or  by  the  use  of  fire  arms,  or  any  other  means  tending  to  drive  the  seals  away 
from  the  islands,  is  expressly  forbidden. 

3.  The  use  of  fire-arms  on  the  islands,  during  the  period  from  the  first  arrival  of  seals  in  the  spring  season  until 
they  disappear  from  the  islands  in  autumn,  is  prohibited. 

4.  No  dogs  will  be  permitted  on  the  islands. 

5.  No  person  will  be  permitted  to  kill  seals  for  their  skins  011  the  islands,  except  under  the  supervision  and 
authority  of  the  agents  of  the  company. 

6.  No  vessels  other  than  those  employed  by  the  company,  or  vessels  of  the  United  States,  will  be  permitted  to 
touch  at  the  islands,  or  to  land  any  persons  or  merchandise  thereon,  except  in  cases  of  shipwreck  or  vessels  in 
distress. 

*7.  The  number  of  seals  which  may  be  annually  killed  for  their  skins  on  St.  Paul  island  is  limited  to  75,000, 
and  the  number  which  may  be  so  killed  on  St.  George  island  is  limited  to  25,000. 

"Sections  2  and  7  of  t  lie  above  regulations  were  based  upon  the  law  of  July  1,  1870  ;  l>nt  since  then  Congress  has  given  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  the  power  to  fix  the  ratio  for  each  island  upon  a  more  intelligent  understanding  of  the  subj«ct,  and  also  to  extend  the  time 
for  taking  ^al-bkins.  from  the  1st  of  June  up  to  the  loth  of  August.— H.  W.  E. 


156  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

8.  No  persons  other  than  American  citizens,  or  the  Aleutian  inhabitants  of  said  islands,  will  be  employed  by 
the  company  on  the  islands  in  any  capacity. 

9.  The  Aleutian  people  living  on  the  islands  will  be  employed  by  the  company  in  taking  seals  for  their  skins, 
and  they  will  be  paid  for  the  labor  of  taking  each  skin  and  delivering  the  same  at  the  salt-house  forty  cents,  coin, 
until  otherwise  ordered  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.    For  other  labor  performed  for  the  company,  proper  and 
remunerative  wages  will  be  paid,  the  amount  to  be  agreed  upon  between  the  agents  of  the  company  and  the 
persons  employed.    The  working-parties  will  be  under  the  immediate  control  of  their  own  chiefs,  and  no  compulsory 
means  will  ever  be  used  to  induce  the  people  to  labor.    All  shall  be  free  to  labor  or  not,  as  they  may  choose.    The 
agents  of  the  company  will  make  selection  of  the  seals  to  be  killed,  and  are  authorized  to  use  all  proper  means  to 
prevent  the  cutting  of  skins. 

10.  All  provisions  and  merchandise  required  by  the  inhabitants  for  legitimate  use  will  be  furnished  them  from 
the  company's  stores,  at  prices  not  higher  than  ordinary  retail  prices  at  San  Francisco,  and  in  no  case  at  prices 
above  25  per  cent,  advance  on  wholesale  or  invoice  prices  in  San  Francisco. 

11.  The  necessary  supplies  of  fuel,  oil,  and  salmon  will  be  furnished  the  people  gratis. 

12.  All  widows  and  orphan  children  on  the  islands  will  be  supported  by  the  company. 

13.  The  landing  or  manufacture  on  the  islands  of  spirituous  or  intoxicating  liquors  or  wines  will,  under  no 
circumstances,  be  permitted  by  the  company,  and  the  preparation  and  use  of  fermented  liquors  by  the  inhabitants 
must  be  discouraged  in  every  legitimate  manner. 

14.  Free  transportation  and  subsistence  on  the  company's  vessels  will  be  furnished  all  people  who  at  any  time 
desire  to  remove  from  the  islands  to  any  place  in  the  Aleutian  group  of  islands. 

15.  Free  schools  will  be  maintained  by  the  company  eight  months  in  each  year,  four  hours  per  day,  Sundays 
and  holidays  excepted,  and  agents  and  teachers  will  endeavor  to  secure  the  attendance  of  all.    The  company  will 
furnish  the  necessary  books,  stationery,  and  other  appliances  for  the  use  of  the  schools,  without  cost  to  the  people. 

16.  The  physicians  of  the  company  are  required  to  faithfully  attend  upon  the  sick,  and  both  medical  attendance 
and  medicines  shall  be  free  to  all  persons  on  the  islands ;  and  the  acceptance  of  gratuities  from  the  people  for  such 
services  is  forbidden. 

17.  The  dwelling-houses  now  being  erected  by  the  company  will  be  occupied  by  the  Aleutian  families  free  of 
rent  or  other  charges. 

18.  No  interference  on  the  part  of  the  agents  or  employe's  of  the  company  in  the  local  government  of  the  people 
on  the  islands,  or  in  their  social  or  domestic  relations,  or  in  their  religious  rites  or  ceremonies,  will  be  countenanced 
or  tolerated. 

19.  It  is  strictly  enjoined  upon  all  agents  and  employe's  of  the  company  to  at  all  times  treat  the  inhabitants  of 
the  islands  with  the  utmost  kindness,  and  endeavor  to  preserve  amicable  relations  with  them.     Force  is  never  to 
be  used  against  them,  except  in  defense  of  life,  or  to  prevent  the  wanton  destruction  of  valuable  property.     The 
agents  and  employes  of  the  company  are  expected  to  instruct  the  native  people  in  household  economy,  and,  by 
precept  and  example,  illustrate  to  them  the  principles  and  benefits  of  a  higher  civilization. 

20.  Faithful  and  strict  compliance  with  all  the  provisions  and  obligations  contained  in  the  act  of  Congress 
entitled  "An  act  to  prevent  the  extermination  of  fur-bearing  animals  in  Alaska",  approved  July  1,  1870,  and  the 
obligations  contained  in  the  lease  to  the  company  executed  in  pursuance  of  said  act,  and  the  regulations  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  prescribed  under  authority  of  said  act,  is  especially  enjoined  upon  all  agents  and  employe's 
of  the  company.    The  authority  of  the  special  agents  of  the  Treasury  appointed  to  reside  upon  the  islands  must  be 
respected,  whenever  lawfully  exercised.    The  interest  of  the  company  in  the  management  of  the  seal-fisheries  being 
identical  in  character  with  that  of  the  United  States,  there  can  be  no  conflict  between  the  agents  of  the  company 
and  the  agents  of  the  government,  if  all  concerned  faithfully  perform  their  several  duties  and  comply  with  the  laws 
and  regulatious. 

21.  The  general  agent  of  the  company  will  cause  to  be  kept  books  of  record  Dn  each  island,  in  which  shall  be 
recorded  the  names  and  ages  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands,  and,  from  time  to  time,  all  births,  marriages,  and 
deaths  which  may  occur  on  the  islands,  stating,  in  cases  of  death,  the  causes  of  the  same.    A  full  transcript  of  these 
records  will  be  annually  forwarded  to  the  home  office  at  San  Francisco. 

22.  Copies  of  these  regulatious  will  be  kept  constantly  posted  in  conspicuous  places  on  both  islands,  and  any 
willful  violation  of  the  same  by  the  agents  or  employes  of  the  company  will  be  followed  by  the  summary  removal 
of  the  offending  party. 

JOHN  F.  MILLEE. 
President  Alaska  Commercial  Company. 

General  Miller,  in  January,  1881,  was  elected,  by  the  legislature  of  California,  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 
He  is  succeeded  as  president  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  by  Mr.  Lewis  Gerstle,  who  is  one  of  the  original 
stockholders,  and  who  has  always  been  prominently  identified  with  the  busiuess.  The  affairs  of  the  company  are  now 
principally  managed  by  Messrs.  Gerstle,  Sloss,  Niebaum,  and  Neumann,  on  the  Pacific  coast;  by  Mr.  Hutchiuson, 
at  Washington  ;  and  Sir  Curtis  Lampsoii  in  London. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  157 

38.  COMMENTS  UPON  THE  LEGISLATION  OF  CONGRESS. 

RATIO  OF  CATOH  AT  FIRST  INCORRECTLY  APPORTIONED. — The  original  text  of  tbe  existing  law  for  the 
protection  of  the  seal-islands,  provides  that  the  100,000  seals  which  may  be  annually  taken  from  them  shall  be 
proportioned  by  killing  75,000  on  St.  Paul  and  25,000  on  St.  George.  This  ratio  was  based  evidently  upon  the 
foregoing  table  of  Veuiaminov,  which,  if  accurate,  would  clearly  show  that  fully  one-third  as  many  seals  repaired  to 
the  smaller  island  as  to  the  larger  one,  and.  until  I  made  my  surveys,  1872-'74,  it  was  so  considered  by  all  parties 
interested.  The  fact,  however,  which  I  soou  discovered,  is  that  St.  George  receives  only  one  eighteenth  of  the 
whole  aggregate  of  fur-seal  visitation  peculiar  to  the  Pribylov  islands,  St.  Paul  entertaining  the  other  seventeen 
parts. 

REASON  FOR  AMENDMENT  OF  1874. — This  amazing  difference,  in  the  light  of  prior  knowledge  and  understanding, 
caused  me,  on  returning  to  Washington  in  October,  1873,  to  lay  the  matter  before  the  Treasury  Department,  and 
ask  that  the  law  be  so  modified  that,  in  the  event  of  abnormally  warm  killing-seasons,  a  smaller  number  might 
be  taken  from  St.  George,  with  a  corresponding  increase  at  St.  Paul;  for,  unless  this  was  done,  it  might  become  at 
any  season  a  matter  of  great  hardship  to  secure  25,000  killable  seals  on  St.  George,  in  the  short  period  allotted  by 
the  law  of  July  1,  1870.  The  Treasury  Department,  while  fully  concurring  in  my  representations,  seemed  to  doubt 
its  power  to  do  so;  then,  with  its  sanction,  I  carried  the  question  before  Congress,  January,  1874,  and  secured  from 
that  body  an  amendment  of  the  act  of  July  1,  1870,  above  quoted  in  full  (act,  etc.,  approved  March  24,  1874),  which 
gives  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  full  discretion  in  the  matter,  and  fixes  the  hitherto  inflexible  ratio  of  killing 
on  each  island  upon  a  sliding  scale,  as  it  were,  for  adjustment  from  season  to  season,  upon  a  more  intelligent 
understanding  of  the  subject;  and,  also,  this  amendatory  act  grants  an  extension  of  the  legal  limit  of  killing,  by 
giving  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  the  power  to  fix  it  annually. 

LAW  WORKS  WELL. — As  the  law  is  now  amended,  the  killing  on  the  two  islands  can  be  sensibly  adjusted  each 
season,  by  the  relative  number  of  seals  on  the  two  islands,  which  will  vary  so  markedly  on  St.  George  according  as 
it  may  be  abnormally  dry  and  warm  when  the  period  for  driving  the  "hollnschickie"  is  at  hand.* 

SPECIAL  AGENTS  OF  THE  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT. — Prior  to  March,  1872,  the  supervision  of  the  Treasury 
Department  over  its  interests  on  the  Pribylov  islands  was  directed  by  the  detail  of  special  agents  from  the  Secretary, 
who  paid  them  out  of  a  contingent  fund  of  $50,000,  which  Congress  voted  in  1868  for  the  "collection  of  customs" 
in  Alaska;  this  appropriation  running  out,  the  secretary  drew  the  following  bill,  which  Congress  adopted,  and  it 
was  approved  March  5, 1872 : 

SECTION  I.  Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized  to  appoint  one  agent  and  three 
assistant  agents,  who  shall  be  charged  with  the  management  cr  the  seal-fisheries  in  Alaska,  and  the  performance  of  snch  other  duties  as 
may  be  assigned  to  them  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  and  the  said  agent  shall  receive  the  sum  often  dollars  per  diem  ;  one  assistant 
agent  the  sum  of  eight  dollars  per  diem;  and  two  assistant  agents  the  sum  of  six  dollars  each  per  diem  while  so  employed;  and  they  shall 
also  be  allowed  their  necessary  traveling  expenses  in  going  to  and  returning  from  Alaska,  such  expenses  not  to  exceed  the  sum  of  three 
hundred  dollars  in  any  one  year. 

SEC.  II.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be,  and  is  hereby,  authorized  to  erect  a  dwelling-house  npon 
each  of  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  for  the  use  of  said  agents,  the  cost  of  both  not  to  exceed  the  sum  of  six  thousand  dollars. 

SKC.  III.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  the  said  agents  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  empowered  to  administer  oaths  in  all  cases  relating 
to  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  to  take  testimony  in  Alaska  for  the  use  of  tho  government  in  any  manner  concerning  the  public 
revenues. 

Under  this  law  the  present  force  of  treasury  officers  is  creditably  maintained  on  the  Pribylov  islands.  Living 
there,  as  they  do,  in  perfect  isolation,  so  far  from  headquarters,  it  is  necessary  that,  to  insure  the  personal  ability 
of  the  officers  to  be  out  on  the  killing-grounds  in  the  sealing-season,  two  agents  at  least  should  be  detailed  upon 
each  island,  as  they  are;  should  one  fall  sick,  then  the  other  is  on  hand.  The  work  every  year  of  taking  the  seals, 
like  the  moving  of  the  tides,  cannot  and  will  not  wait  for  any  man;  it  is  literally  "now  or  never.!"  with  its  conduct. 

*  Upon  my  urgent  and  persistent  representations,  the  law  directing,  and  appropriating  for,  the  maintenance  of  a  revenue  cutter  in 
Alaska  waters,  for  the  protection  of  the  seal-islands  and  sea-otter  hunting-grounds,  was  inserted  in  the  sundry  civil  budget  for  1377;  and, 
in  May  of  that  year,  the  late  Capt.  George  W.  Bailey,  in  the  United  States  revenue  marine  cutter  "Richard  Rnsh",  sailed  on  that  errand 
from  San  Francisco.  This  special  service  has  been  continued  ever  since,  and  now  will  remain  a  regularly  sustained  action  on  the  part  of 
the  department,  I  trust.  The  excellent  record  and  efficiency  of  the  supervision  rendered  by  ;he  revenue  marine  in  Alaska  has  been  so  well 
maintained  and  is  so  apparent,  that  I  do  not  see  how  it  can  be  suffered  to  fall.  It  is  the  only  effeci  ive  arm  of  the  United  States  government 
in  that  region,  or  that  has  ever  been  so.  All  travel  in  that  country  is  essentially  by  water;  nine-tenths  of  its  people  live  by  the  seaside. 

The  fur-seals  of  Alaska,  collectively  and  individually,  are  the  property  of  the  general  government,  and  for  their  special  and  sole 
protection  the  extra  legislation  of  July.  1-70.  was  designedly  enacted.  Every  fur-seal  playing  in  the  waters  of  Bering  sea  around  about 
the  Pi  ibylov  islands,  no  matter  if  found  so  doing  one  hundred  miles  away  from  those  rookeries,  belongs  there,  has  been  begotten  and 
born  thereon,  and  is  the  animal  that  the  explicit  shield  of  the  law  protects;  no  legal  sophism  or  quibble  can  cloud  the  whole  truth  of 
my  statement.  Construe  the  law  otherwise,  then  a  marine  license  of  hunting  beyond  a  marine  league  (3  miles)  from  the  shores  of 
the  Pribylov  islands,  would  soon  raise  up  such  a  multitudinous  fleet,  that  its  cruising  could  not  fail,  in  a  few  short  years,  in  so  harassing 
and  irritating  the  breeding-seals  as  to  cause  their  withdrawal  from  the  Alaskan  rookeries,  and  probable  retreat  to  those  of  Russia— a 
source  of  undoubted  Muscovitic  delight  and  emolument,  and  of  corresponding  shame  and  loss  to  us. 

The  matter  is,  however,  now  thoroughly  appreciated  and  understood  at  the  Treasury  Depariment,  and  has  been  during  the  past 
four  years,  as  the  seal  pirates  have  discovered  to  their  chagrin  and  discomfiture. 


158  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

39.  PARAGRAPHS  OF   REFERENCE  RELATIVE  TO   SUBJECTS   DISCUSSED  IN  THE  PRECEDING 

MEMOIR,  AND  REFERRED  TO  AS  NOTE  39. 

A.  PREVIOUS  PUBLICATIONS  op  THE  WRITER  [Section  I]. — I  allude,  at  the  outset,  to  the  fact  that  a  brief  digest 
of  m$  surveys  had  been  published  by  the  government  in  1873-'74;  it  is  entitled  Condition  of  Affairs  in  Alaska: 
8°,  1874.    This  report  was  principally  given  up  to  the  state  of  the  fur-trade  over  all  Alaska,  the  people  and  resources 
thereof;  it  also  contains  the  substance  of  a  still  briefer  report  of  mine  made  upon  the  Pribylov  islands  in  September, 
1873,  and  was  printed  by  the  Treasury  Department  during  my  absence  in  Alaska.    Owing  to  causes  of  which  I  have 
necessarily  no  personal  knowledge,  only  75  copies  of  this  report  were  struck  off;  it  was  illustrated  by  50  quarto 
plates  photographed  from  my  drawings  and  paintings. 

B.  ST.  FELIX  MUST  NOT  BE  CONFOUNDED  WITH  MASAPUERA  [Section  2]. — The  overshadowing  number  of 
fur-seals  found  on  Masafuera  and  Juan  Fernandez  islands,  just  to  the  southwaid  of  this  island,  has  caused  a  great 
deal  of  confusion  as  to  the  existence,  or  not,  of  Arctocephalus  on  this  island  and  Ambrosia  islet,  in  the  old  records 
and  statements  of  Antarctic  fur-sealers.    It  has,  however,  never  been  a  very  prominent  rookery,  but  it  has  been  one, 
nevertheless,  and  hence  I  give  its  name. 

A  fur-seal  skin  was  taken  from  either  the  straits  of  Le  Maire  or  Juan  Fernandez  as  early  as  1686,  and  presented 
to  the  Museum  of  the  Royal  Society  in  London ;  here  it  was  first  noticed  as  new  by  Dr.  Grew,  in  1694 ;  but  the  name 
of  the  donor  and  the  locality  being  unknown,  the  matter  was  allowed  to  drop  by  naturalists,  and  Grew's  descriptions 
were  laid  aside  by  them  as  obscure  and  apocryphal ;  indeed,  even  as  late  as  1823,  Baron  Cuvier  said  of  the  Grew 
diagnosis,  "  Que  iaire  de  cette  phoque — Que  faire  de  cette  otarie?"  (Diet.  Class.  d'Hist.  Nat.,  tome  xiii.) 

I  say  that  this  specimen  was  taken  from  the  above  localities  in  all  probability  ;  because,  unless  it  came  from 
the  Falkland  islands,  there  were  no  other  fur-seal  grounds  known  to  navigators  at  so  early  a  date.  Spanish  and 
English  buccaneers  were,  however,  familiar  with  Juau  Fernandez  and  Masal'uera  as  soon  as  1574-'86,  or  a  full 
century  prior  to  the  receipt  of  the  Grew  specimen.  These  sea  pirates,  however,  prided  themselves  over  their  swords 
alone;  so  we  have  no  record  of  what  they  really  knew  or  did.  Nevertheless,  some  of  them,  evidently,  employed  a 
leisure  hour  or  day  in  securing  and  transmitting  the  skin  above  referred  to.  In  summing  up,  therefore,  Henry 
Brewer,  in  1 646,  at  Staten  laud,  first  noticed  the  southern  fur-seal.  William  Dampier,  in  1683,  first  called  specific 
attention  to  it  as  a  fur-seal,  and  Dr.  Grew,  as  above  stated,  first  described  it  formally  as  a  new  seal  to  natural 
science.  So  much  is  due  to  the  true  literature  of  the  Antarctic  fur-seal. 

€3.  PRIBYLOV'S  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  ISLANDS  [Section  3]. — "Anglieskie  Bookta,"  or  English  bay,  so-called 
by  the  natives  because  in  1849  a  large  English  whale  (?)  ship  was  stranded  on  the  shoals  of  that  reach  of  the  coast, 
and  the  wreck  driven  ashore  there. 

D.  LAND  AND  SCENERY  [Section  4]. — This  village  lagoon,  has  been  filling  up  very  perceptibly  since  1868, 
when  Hutchinson  and  Morgan  then  were  able  to  sail  in  a  small  sloop,  drawing  six  feet  of  water,  up  to  its  head. 
To-day  such  a  vessel  could  not  come  nearer  than  half  a  mile  to  their  anchorage  of  1868.    The  principal  shoaling  takes 
place  in  a  direct  line  here  between  Tolstoi  Mees  and  the  Village  Hill,  where  a  rocky  reef  seems  to  be  slowly  rising, 
pushed  up  by  ice  fields.    The  sloop  yacht  "  Jabez  Howe",  which  was  wrecked  in  1873  on  Akootan,  is  probably  the 
last  sea-going  vessel  that  has  or  ever  will  gain  an  entrance  to  the  village  lagoon,  St.  Paul  island;  or  swing  at 
anchor  in  the  cove. 

E.  ST.  PAUL  [Section  4].— The  physical  difficulties  of  pedestrianism  here  recall  vividly  to  my  mind  the  recent 
death  of  Mr.  Edward  Gill,  a  brother  of  the  distinguished  naturalist,  Professor  Gill,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
Late  in  October,  1876,  this  young  man,  in  company  with  several  of  the  natives  and  two  agents  of  the  Alaska 
Commercial  Company,  started  out  one  bright  morning  for  a  walk,  intending  to  go  to  Northeast  point,  then  to  return 
by  Nahsayvernia  to  English  bay,  and  home  to  the  village  in  the  evening  ;  they  had  journeyed  on  this  route  as  far 
as  Maroouitch,  at  the  north  shore,  when  a  storm  of  wind  and  sleet  arose  which  blew  directly  in  their  faces  as  they 
came  across  the  island  to  English  bay.    Gill  sank  several  times  from  exhaustion,  caused  by  the  severe  exercise  of 
walking  in  the  sphagnum  on  Boga  Slov  and  of  jumping  over  the  tussocks  near  the  bay.    Finally,  at  the  head  of  the 
lagoon,  and  in  sight  of  the  village  lights,  he  diopped  into  the  long  grass,  utterly  prostrated ;  his  companions,  too 
weak  to  carry  him  farther,  struggled  on,  and  when  the  relief  party  found  him  he  was  warm,  but  life  had  departed. 
He  was  in  perfect  health  and  condition  at  the  starting;  but  the  chill  fury  of  the  icy  gale  had  compassed  his  death. 

F.  RESIDENT  NATIVES  OF  ST.  PAUL,  JULY  1,  1870,  TAKEN  FROM  PHILIP  VOLKOV'S  LISTS,  AUGUST  8,  1873. 

[Section  5.] 

[The  names  in  italics  were  either  dead  or  absent  from  the  island  at  the  date  of  copy,  August  8,  1H73.J 


1.  Philip  Keemachncek. 

2.  Effroseenia,  his  wife. 

3.  Ivan,  his  son. 

4.  Danelo,  Iris  son. 

H.  Vasseele  Seedulee. 


6.  Mareena,  Ms  wife. 

7.  Alexander,  liis  son. 

8.  Sylvester,  his  sou. 

9.  Erfeem  Anoolanak. 
10.  Matroona,  his  wife. 


11.  Simeon,  adopted  son. 

12.  Marka  Aceelyah. 

13.  Feelecdtat,  /(is  in/e. 

14.  Peter  Peeshenkov. 

15.  Matrooua,  his  wife. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


159 


16.  Ivan  Eemanov. 

17.  Auua,  bis  wife. 

18.  Yeagor,  his  son. 

19.  Loobov,  his  step-danghter. 

20.  Maxseem,  his  step-  son. 

21.  Maria,  his  niece. 

22.  Nickolai  Krukov. 

23.  Peter  Krukov. 

24.  Agrafeena,  his  wife. 

25.  Ivan  Korchootin. 

26.  Ooleeana,  his  wife. 

27.  Yahkov  Korchootin. 

28.  Lookahria,  his  sister. 

29.  yatalia  Makooleena. 

30.  Maria  Paranchina. 

31.  Keesar  Shabbylean. 

32.  Agrafeena,  his  wife. 

33.  Neekon,  his  son. 

34.  Kiptimia  Plottnikora. 

35.  Avdotia,  her  daughter. 

36.  Prokoopee  Meeseekin. 

37.  Eveduxsia,  his  wife. 

38.  Avdotia  Meeseekiua,  his  step-mother. 

39.  Anna,  daughter  of  Meeseekin. 

40.  Deemeetree  Veatkin. 

41.  Evelampia  Veatkin, 
4-2.  Balakshin  (Benedict). 

43.  Matroona,  his  wife. 

44.  Meexhae,  his  son. 

45.  Balakshin,  second  (Benedict). 

46.  Stepan  Krukov. 
47    Xutalie,  his  wife. 

48.  Avdokia  Seeribneekova  (widow). 

49.  Timofay,  her  son. 

50.  Olga,  her  daughter. 

51.  Paraskeevee,  her  daughter. 
.">•-'.  Akooleeua,  her  daughter. 
53.  Michael  Barrhov. 

">4.  Malania,  his  wife. 

55.  Agnes,  his  daughter. 

56.  Daniel,  his  nephew. 

57.  Avdotia,  Schepeteenah  (widow). 

58.  Tahreeutee,  her  son. 

59.  Elasie,  her  son. 

60.  Hee-une-iah,  her  dauahter. 

61.  Kerick  Booterin,  first  chief. 
t2.  Seeg-lee-teekiah,  his  wife. 

63.  Patalamon,  his  son. 

64.  Kerick,  his  son. 

65.  Salomayee,  his  daughter. 
6(5.  Ooleeta,  his  daughter. 

67.  George  Booterin,  his  son. 

68.  Carp  Booterin. 

69.  Lookariah  Booterin. 

70.  Alexander  Pancov. 

71.  Porfeerie,  his  son. 

72.  Avdotia,  his  step-daughter. 

73.  Paraskeevie,  his  step-daughter. 

74.  Yakov  Sootyahgin. 
7,">.  Keroadea,  his  wife. 

76.  Feedosayee  Saydeek. 

77.  Anesia,  his  wife. 

78.  Anna,  his  daughter. 

79.  Feoktista,  his  godmother. 

80.  Dayueese  Saydeek. 

61.  Hat;  yahzeekor  (Ei-lampia'). 

82.  Anna,  his  trife. 

83.  Maria,  his  daughter. 
64.  Maroon  Xakock. 

85.  Paraskeevie,  his  wife. 


86.  Zachar,  his  step-son. 

87.  ,  his  nephew. 

88.  Paraskeevie,  niece. 

89.  Natalia  Habaroova. 

90.  Pavel  Habarov,  her  son. 

91.  Paul  Shies-neekor  (priest). 

92.  Meeh-ah-elo,  his  son. 

93.  Meeloveedova,  Alexsandra  (widow). 

94.  Simeon,  her  son. 

95.  Alexsandra,  Jter  daughter. 

96.  Antoue,  her  son. 

97.  Marcia,  her  daily  liter. 

98.  Kerick  Artamanov. 

99.  Olga,  his  wife. 

100.  Melania,  his  daughter. 

101.  Vasseleesee,  his  daughter. 

102.  Kah-sayn-yah,  his  daughter. 

103.  Gearuian  Artamanov. 

104.  Anna  Tarantayvah  (widow). 

105.  Anna,  her  daughter. 

106.  Stephen  Bayloglazov. 

107.  Yealeena,  his  wife. 

108.  Sayrgee,  his  son. 

109.  Anna,  his  daughter. 

110.  Paraskeevie,  his  adopted  girl. 

111.  Ermolie  Gushing. 

112.  Faokla,  his  wife. 

113.  Faokla,  his  daughter. 

114.  Oolyahnah,  his  daughter. 

115.  Aggie  Gushing,  his  son, 

116.  Antone  Sootyahgen. 

117.  Oolyahnah,  his  wife. 

118.  Meetrofan,  his  son. 

119.  Meehaie,  his  son. 

120.  Yahkov  Mandrigan. 

121.  Afanashia,  his  wife. 

122.  Lookayleean,  his  son. 

123.  Maria,  his  daughter. 

124.  Oseep  Pahomov. 

125.  Varvarah,  his  wife. 

126.  Maria  Seedova  (widow). 

127.  Ahkakee,  her  son. 

128.  ,  her  daughter. 

129.  ,  her  daughter. 

130.  ,  her  daughter. 

131.  ,  her  daughter. 

132.  Alexsayee  Xeederazov. 

133.  Akooleena,  his  wife. 

134.  Christeena,  his  daughter. 

135.  Agrafeena,  his  daughter. 

136.  Keer  Saydeek. 

137.  Yealeena,  his  wife. 

138.  Maria,  his  daughter. 

139.  Ivan  Mandrigan. 

140.  Tatahyahn.  his  wife. 

141.  Vasseelee,  his  son. 

142.  Marfa,  his  daughter. 

143.  Feelat  Teetov. 

144.  Peter,  his  son. 
14.">.  Yeaon,  his  son. 

146.  Yeagor  Arkashav. 

147.  Alexsandra,  his  wife. 
14-    Martin,  his  step-son. 

149.  Nekolaie,  his  step-son. 

150.  Stepan,  his  step-son. 

151.  Kereek,  his  son. 

152.  Arsaynee,  his  son. 

153.  Tatayahnah,  his  daughter. 

154.  Timofay  Evanov. 

155.  Fevrouia,  his  daughter. 


156.  Paymen  Kooznitzov. 

157.  Oseep  BaizyahzeekoT. 

158.  Alexsandra,  his  wife. 

159.  Panl,  his  son. 

160.  Kahsay nyah,  his  step-daughter. 

161.  Avdokia,  his  step-daughter. 

162.  Kahsaynyah,  his  daughter. 

163.  Iran  Paranchin. 

164.  Zaharrov  Evemaiuov. 

165.  Keereenayah,  his  wife. 

166.  Fevrouia,  his  daughter. 

167.  Ivan  Hapov. 

168.  Anna,  his  sister-in-law. 

169.  Alexsandra,  his  daughter. 

170.  Ivan,  his  son. 

171.  Yeagor  Korchootin. 

172.  Zachar  Saydeek. 

173.  Oosteenia,  his  wife. 

174.  Vasseelee,  his  son. 

175.  Marvra,  his  daughter. 

176.  Kelcon,  his  nephtvi. 

177.  Feelip  Saydeek. 

178.  Stepau  Skahvortsov. 

179.  Philip  Vollkov. 

180.  Ellen,  his  daughter. 

181.  Matroona,  his  daughter. 

182.  Markiel  Vollkov,  his  son. 

183.  Gavreelo  Korchurgin. 

184.  Lukaylean,  his  son. 

185.  Iran  Sootyahgen. 

186.  Heeyoniah,  his  wife. 

187.  Aneesia,  his  daughter. 

188.  Emelian  Sootyahgen. 

189.  Marko  Korchootin. 

190.  Dareyah,  his  wife. 

191.  Ivan,  his  son. 

192.  Zeenovia,  his  daughter. 

193.  Timofay  Glottov. 
l'J4.  Maria,  his  wife. 

195.  ,  his  son. 

196.  Ivan,  his  son. 

197.  Yeafeemia,  his  daughter. 

198.  Iraklin  Mandrigan. 

199.  Oosteenie,  his  wife. 

200.  Eeon,  his  son. 

201.  Paul  Soovorrov. 

202.  Vassa,  his  wife. 

203.  ,  his  son. 

204.  Akyleena,  his  mi  ther. 

205.  Agrflfeena.  hi*  adopted  girl. 

206.  Yeafeem  Korchootin. 

207.  Palahgayee,  his  wife. 

208.  Peter,  his  son. 

209.  Luka  Mandrigan. 

210.  Eereena,  his  wife. 

211.  Neekeeta  Y'itchuiainov. 

212.  Christeena,  his  daughter. 

213.  Uomenah,  his  daughter. 

214.  Taheesah,  his  daughter. 

215.  Ivan  Yitchmainov. 

216.  Michael  Korzerov. 

217.  Alexsandra,  his  wife. 

218.  Stepan  Korzerov. 

219.  Paul  Korzerov. 

220.  lean  Jko:lor. 

221.  Palahgayah,  his  mother. 

222.  Feodar,  her  son. 

223.  Ereduckxia,  her  daughter. 

224.  Platone  Tarakanov. 

225.  Marfa,  his  wife 


160  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


226.  AJcoolena,  his  mother. 

227.  Kerick  Tarakanov. 

228.  Domian  M.  Kok  (John  Frator). 

229.  Oolyahnah,  his  wife. 

230.  Anua,  his  daughter. 

231.  Salomayah,  Artamanov's  daughter. 


White  men  in  charge. 


1.  Dr.  Mclntyre. 

2.  H.  W.  Mclntyre. 

3.  Dr.  Cramer. 

4.  John  M.  Morton. 


5.  Chas.  Bryant. 

6.  D.  Webster. 

7.  ,  a  cooper. 

8.  ,  a  carpenter. 


WHAT  CONSTITUTES  A  NATIVE  OF  ST.  PAUL. — There  has  been  some  petty  divergence  of  opinion  on  the 
island  as  to  who  are  the  real  "  natives"  thereof,  because  these  natives  enjoy  certain  privileges  that  are  very  valuable 
them  and  coveted  by  all  outside  Alaskan  brethren. 

In  this  connection  the  people  living  here  are  divided  into  three  classes;  that  is,  the  males: 

First.  The  natives,  properly  speaking,  or  those  who  have  been  born  and  raised  upon  the  Pribylov  islands;  not 
V  over  one-quarter  of  the  present  adult  population  can  lay  claim  to  this  title. 

Second.  The  people  who  were  living  thereon,  but  not  born  natives  at  the  time  of  the  transfer  of  all  Alaska, 
July,  1867;  this  class  constitutes  a  majority  of  the  citizens  of  the  two  islands  as  they  exist  to-day. 

Third.  The  people  who  were  living  and  working  as  sealers  on  the  Pribylov  islands  at  the  date  of  the  granting 
by  the  government  of  the  present  lease  to  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  August  31,  1870. 

Of  the  above  three  divisions,  strict  justice  and  true  equity  unite  in  recognizing  the  third  class  as  the  natives  of 
the  Pribylov  islands.  This  settles  the  question  also  to  the  best  satisfaction  of  these  people  themselves,  and  removes 
every  quibble  of  dispute  in  the  premises.  Accurate  records  of  the  men,  women,  and  children  living  on  each  island 
at  the  date  of  the  lease  in  1871  can  be  found  in  the  church  registers  on  both  St.  Paul  and  St.  George. 

CURIOUS  DERIVATION  OF  NATIVES'  NAMES. — Any  one  at  all  acquainted  with  the  Eussian  language  will  not 
fail  to  notice  that  the  names  in  the  above  list  have  some  odd  derivations,  relating  to  physical  peculiarities,  defects, 
and  other  originations  that  are  more  or  less  comical  in  their  suggestions.  I  was  told  by  a  very  bright  Eussian,  who 
spent  a  season  here,  1871-'72,  as  special  agent  of  the  Treasury  Department,  that  the  Aleutian  ancestors  of  these 
people  when  they  were  converted  and  baptized  into  the  Greek  Catholic  church  received  their  names,  bran  new, 
from  the  fertile  brains  of  the  priests,  who,  after  exhausting  the  common  run  of  Muscovitic  titles,  such  as  our 
Smiths  and  Joneses,  were  compelled  to  fall  back  upon  some  personal  characteristics  of  the  new  claimant  for  civilized 
nomenclature.  Thus  we  have  to-day  on  the  seal-islands  a  "  Stepan  Bayloglazov",  or  "  Son  of  a  White  Eye",  "  Oseep 
Baizyahzeekov",  or  "Sou  of  a  Man  without  a  Tongue".  A  number  of  the  old  Eussian  governors  and  admirals 
of  the  imperial  navy  are  represented  here  by  their  family  names,  though  I  do  not  think,  from  my  full  acquaintance 
with  the  name-sakes,  that  the  distinguished  owners  in  the  first  place  had  anything  to  do  with  their  physical 
embodiment  on  the  Pribylov  islands. 

CAUSES  OF  DEATH  AMONG  THE  PEOPLE. — The  principal  cause  of  death  among  the  people,  by  natural  infirmity, 
on  the  seal-islands,  is  the  varying  forms  of  consumption  and  bronchitis,  always  greatly  aggravated  by  that  inherited 
scrofulous  taint  or  stain  of  blood  which  was,  in  one  way  or  another,  flowing  through  the  veins  of  their  recent 
progenitors,  both  here  and  throughout  the  Aleutian  islands.  There  is  nothing  worth  uoticiug  in  the  line  of  nervous 
diseases,  unless  it  be  now  and  then  the  record  of  a  case  of  alcoholism  superinduced  by  excessive  quass  drinking. 
This  "makoolah"  intemperance  among  these  people,  which  was  not  suppressed  until  1876,  was  a  chief  factor  to  the 
immediate  death  of  infants ;  for,  when  they  were  at  the  breast,  the  mothers  would  drink  quass  to  intoxication,  and 
the  stomachs  of  the  newly-born  Aleuts  or  Creoles  could  not  stand  the  infliction  which  they  received,  even  second- 
hand. Had  it  not  been  for  this  wretched  spectacle,  so  often  presented  to  my  eyes  in  187H-'73, 1  should  hardly  have 
taken  the  active  steps  which  I  did  to  put  the  nuisance  down ;  for  it  involved  me,  at  first,  in  a  bitter  personal 
controversy,  which,  although  I  knew  at  the  outset  it  was  inevitable,  still  weighed  nothing  in  the  scales  against  the 
evil  itself.* 

A  few  febrile  disorders  are  occurring,  yet  they  yield  readily  to  good  treatment.  The  chief  source  of  sickness 
used  to  arise  from  the  wretched  character  of  the  barrabkies  in  which  they  lived;  but  it  was,  at  first,  a  very  difficult 
matter  to  get  frame  houses  to  supplant  successfully  the  sod-walled  and  dirt-roofed  huts  of  the  islands. 

DIFFICULTY  OF  GETTING  SUITABLE  HOUSES. — Many  experiments,  however,  were  made,  and  a  dozen  houses 
built,  ere  the  result  was  as  good  as  the  style  of  primitive  housing,  when  it  had  been  well  done  and  kept  in  best 

*This  evil  of  habitual  and  gross  intoxication,  under  Russian  rule,  was  not  characteristic  of  these  islands  alone,  it  was  universal 
throughout  Alaska.  Sir  George  Simpson,  speaking  of  the  subject,  when  in  Sitka,  April,  1842,  says:  "Some  reformation  certainly  was 
wanted  in  this  respect;  for  of  all  the  drunken,  as  well  as  of  all  the  dirty  places  that  I  had  visited,  New  Archangel  [Sitka]  was  the  worst. 
On  the  holidays  in  particular,  of  which,  Sundays  included,  there  are  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  in  the  year,  men,  women,  and  even 
children  were  to  be  seen  staggering  about  in  all  directions."  [Simpson:  Journei/  Around  Hie  World ;  1841-'42,  p.  88.] 

Surprise  has  often  been  genuine  among  those  who  inquire,  over  the  fact  that  there  is  no  law  officer  hero  at  either  village,  and 
•wonder  is  expressed  why  such  provision  is  not  made  by  the  government.  But,  when  the  following  fads  relative  to  this  subject  are 
understood,  it  is  at  once  clear  that  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  his  constabulary,  would  bo  entirely  useless,  if  established  on  the  seal- 
islands.  As  these  natives  live  here,  they  live  as  a  single  family  in  each  settlement,  having  one  common  purpose  in  life  and  only  one ;  what 
one  native  does,  eats,  wears,  or  says,  is  known  at  once  to  all  the  others,  just  as  whatsoever  any  member  of  our  household  may  do  will  soon 
be  known  to  us  all  who  belong  t«  its  organization  ;  hence  if  they  steal  or  quarrel  among  themselves,  they  keep  the  matter  wholly  to 
themselves,  and  settle  it  to  their  own  satisfaction.  Were  there  rival  villages  on  the  islands  and  diverse  people  and  employment,  then  tlio 
case  would  be  reversed,  and  need  of  legal  machinery  apparent. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  161 

possible  repair.  In  such  a  damp  climate,  naturally,  a  strong  moldy  smell  pervades  all  inclosed  rooms  which  are  not 
thoroughly  heated  and  daily  dried  by  fires ;  and,  in  the  spring  and  fall  frost  works  through  and  drips  and  trickles 
like  rain  adown  the  walls.  The  present  frame  houses  occupied  by  the  natives  owe  their  dryness,  their  warmth  and 
protection  from  the  piercing  "boorgas",  to  the  liberal  use  of  stout  tarred  paper  in  the  lining.  The  overpowering 
inustiness  of  the  hallways,  outhouses,  and,  in  fact,  every  roofed-in  spot,  where  a  stove  is  not  regularly  used,  even 
in  the  best-built  residences,  is  one  of  the  first  disagreeable  sensations  which  the  new  arrivals  always  experience 
when  they  take  up  their  quarters  here.  Perhaps,  if  it  were  not  for  the  nasal  misery  that  floats  in  from  the  killing- 
grounds  to  the  novice,  this  musty,  moldy  state  of  things  up  here  would  be  far  more  acute,  as  an  annoyance,  than  it 
is  now.  The  greater  grief  seems  to  soon  fully  absorb  the  lesser  one;  at  least  in  my  own  case,  I  can  affirm  the  result. 

AMIABLE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  NATIVES. — These  people  are  singularly  affectionate  and  indulgent  toward 
their  children.  There  are  no  "bald-headed  tyrants"  in  our  homes,  as  arbitrary  and  ruthless  in  their  rule  as  are 
those  snnfHy  babies  and  young  children,  on  the  seal-islands.  While  it  is  very  young,  the  Aleut  gives  up  everything 
to  the  caprice  of  his  child,  and  never  crosses  its  path  or  thwarts  its  desire;  the  "deetiah"  literally  take  charge  of 
the  house;  but  as  soon  as  these  callow  members  of  the  family  become  strong  enough  to  bear  burdens  and  to  labor, 
generally  between  12  and  15  years  of  age,  they  are  then  pressed  into  hard  service  relentlessly  by  their  hitherto 
indulgent  parents;  the  extremes  literally  meet  in  this  application. 

They  have  another  peculiarity :  when  they  are  ill,  slightly  or  seriously,  no  matter  which,  they  maintain  or 
affect  a  stolid  resignation,  and  are  patient  to  positive  apathy.  This  is  not  due  to  deficiency  of  nervous  organization, 
because  tbose  among  them  who  exhibit  examples  of  intense  liveliness  and  nervous  activity,  behave  just  as  stolidly 
when  ill  as  their  more  lymphatic  townsmen  do.  Boys  and  girls,  men  and  women,  all  alike  are  patient  and  resigned 
when  ailing  and  under  treatment ;  but  it  is  a  bad  feature  after  all,  inasmuch  as  it  is  well-nigh  impossible  to  rally  a 
very  sick  man  who  himself  has  no  hope,  and  who  seems  to  mutely  deprecate  every  effort  to  save  his  life. 

DISPOSITION  TO  GAMBLE. — The  inherent  propensity  of  man  to  gamble  is  developed  here  to  a  very  appreciable 
degree,  but  it  in  no  way  whatever  suggests  the  strange  gaming  love  and  infatuation  with  which  the  Indians  and 
Eskimo  elsewhere  of  Alaska  are  possessed.  The  chief  delight  of  the  men  and  boys  of  the  two  villages  is  to  stand 
on  the  street  corners  "pitching"  half  dollars;  so  devoted,  indeed,  have  I  found  the  native  mind  to  this  hap-hazard 
sport,  that  frequently  I  would  detect  groups  of  them  standing  out  in  pelting  gales  of  wind  and  of  rain,  "shying" 
the  silver  coin  at  the  little  dirt-driven  pegs.  A  few  of  them,  men  and  women,  play  cards  with  much  skill  and 
intelligence. 

CHILDREN'S  SPORTS. — The  urchins  play  marbles,  spin  tops,  and  fly  kites,  intermittently,  with  all  the  feverish 
energy  displayed  by  the  youth  of  our  own  surroundings;  they  frolic  at  base-ball,  and  use  "shinny"  sticks  with  much 
volubility  and  activity.  The  girls  are,  however,  much  more  repressed,  and,  though  they  have  a  few  games,  and 
play  quietly  with  quaintly  dressed  dolls,  yet  they  do  not  appear  to  be  possessed  of  that  usual  feminine  animation 
so  conspicuously  marked  in  our  home  life. 

ATTACHMENT  TO  THE  ISLANDS. — The  attachment  which  the  natives  have  for  their  respective  islands  was  well 
shown  to  me  in  1874.  Then,  a  number  of  St.  George  people  were  iaken  over  to  St  Paul,  temporarily,  to  do  the 
killing  incidental  to  a  reduction  of  the  quota  of  25,000  for  their  island  and  a  corresponding  increase  at  St.  Paul ; 
they  became  homesick  immediately,  and  were  never  tired  of  informing  the  St.  Paul  natives  that  St.  George  was  a 
far  handsomer  and  more  enjoyable  island  to  live  upon!  that  walking  over  the  long  sand  reaches  of  "Pavel"  made 
their  legs  grievously  weary,  and  that  the  whole  effect  of  this  change  of  residence  was  "ochen  scootchnie".  Naturally, 
the  ire  of  the  St.  Paul  people  rose  at  once,  and  they  retorted  in  kind,  indicating  the  rocky  surface  of  St.  George, 
and  its  great  inferiority  as  a  seal-island.  1  was  surprised  at  the  genuine  feeling  on  both  sides,  because,  as  far  as 
I  could  judge  from  a  residence  on  each  island,  it  was  a  clear  case  of  tweedle-dee  and  tweedle  dum  between  them,  as 
to  opportunities  and  climate  necessary  foFa  pleasurable  existence.  The  natives,  themselves,  are  of  one  and  common 
stock,  though  the  number  of  Creoles  on  St.  George  is  relatively  much  larger  than  on  St.  Paul;  consequently  the  tone 
of  the  St.  George  village  is  rather  more  sprightly  and  vivacious. 

CREATURE  COMFORTS. — As  far  as  a  purely  physical  existence  goes,  the  American  method  of  living  on  and  in 
the  climate  of  the  Pribylov  islands  is  highly  conducive  to  strength  and  health.  Tea  and  coffee,  seasoned  with 
condensed  milk  and  lump  sugar;  hot  biscuits,  cakes,  and  waffles;  potatoes,  served  in  every  method  of  cookery; 
salt  salmon,  cod-fish,  and  corned  beef;  mess  pork;  and.  once  a  week,  a  fresh  roast  of  beef  or  steaks;  all  the 
canned  vegetables  and  fruits;  all  the  potted  sauces,  jams,  and  jellies;  pies,  puddings,  and  pastries;  and  the 
exhaustive  list  of  purely  sea-faring  dishes,  such  as  pea  and  bean,  barley  and  rice  soups,  curries,  and  maccaroni; 
these  constitute  the  staples  and  many  of  the  luxuries  with  which  the  agents  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company 
prolong  their  existence  while  living  here  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  and  to  which  they  welcome  their  guests 
for  discussion  and  glad  digestion. 

A  piano  on  St.  Paul  in  the  company  house,  an  assorted  library,  embracing  over  1,000  volumes,  selected  from 
standard  authors  in  fiction,  science,  and  history,  together  with  many  other  unexpected  adjuncts  of  high  comfort  for 
body  and  soul,  will  be  found  on  these  islands,  wholly  unexpected  to  those  who  first  set  foot  upon  them.  A  small 
Eussian  printed  library  has  also  been  given  by  the  company  to  the  natives  on  each  island  for  their  special 
entertainment.  The  rising  generation  of  sealers  here,  if  they  read  at  all,  will  read  our  own  typography. 


162  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

G.  FOOD  AND  STORE  SHOPPING  OF  THE  NATIVES  [Section  5].— Most  of  these  articles  of  food  mentioned  heretofore 
are  purchased  by  the  natives  in  the  company's  store  at  either  island  ;  this  food  and  the  wearing  apparel,  crockery, 
etc.,  which  the  company  bring  up  here  for  the  use  of  the  people,  is  sold  to  them  at  the  exact  cost  price  of  the  same, 
plus  the  expenses  of  transportation;  and,  many  times  within  my  knowledge,  they  have  bought  goods  here,  at  these 
stores,  at  less  rates  than  they  would  have  been  subjected  to  in  San  Francisco ;  the  object  of  the  company  is  not, 
under  any  circumstances,  to  make  a  single  cent  of  profit  out  of  the  sale  of  these  goods  to  the  natives;  they  aim 
only  to  clear  the  cost  and  no  more.  Instructions  to  this  effect  are  given  to  its  agents,  while  those  of  the  government 
are  called  upon  to  take  notice  of  the  fact. 

The  store  at  St.  Paul;  as  well  as  that  at  St.  George,  has  its  regular  annual  "opening"  after  the  arrival  of  the 
steamer  in  the  spring,  to  which  the  natives  seem  to  pay  absorbed  attention ;  they  crowd  the  buildings  day  and 
night,  eagerly  looking  for  all  the  novelties  in  food  and  apparel ;  these  slouchy  men  and  shawl-hooded  women,  who 
pack  the  area  before  the  counters  here,  seem  to  feel  as  deep  an  interest  in  the  process  of  shopping  as  the  most 
enthusiastic  votaries  of  that  business  do  in  our  own  streets ;  it  certainly  seems  to  give  them  the  greatest  satisfaction 
of  their  lives  on  the  Pribylov  islands. 

H.  VIGILANCE  OP  THE  NATIVES  [Section  7].— One  of  the  peculiarities  of  these  people  is  that  they  seldom 
undress  when  they  go  to  bed — neither  the  men,  women,  nor  children ;  and  also  that  at  any  and  all  hours  of  the  night 
during  the  summer  season,  when  I  have  passed  in  and  out  of  the  village  to  and  from  the  rookeries,  I  always  found 
several  of  the  natives  squatting  before  their  house  doors  or  leaning  against  the  walls,  stupidly  staring  out  into  the 
misty  darkness  of  the  fog,  or  chatting  one  with  the  other  over  their  pipes.  A  number  of  the  inhabitants,  by  this 
disposition,  are  always  up  and  around  throughout  the  settlement  during  the  entire  night  and  day.  In  olden  times, 
and  even  recently,  these  involuntary  sentinels  of  the  night  have  often  startled  the  whole  village  by  shouting  at  the 
top  of  their  voices  the  pleasant  and  electric  announcement  of  the  "  ship's  light!"  or  have  frozen  it  with  superstitious 
horror  in  the  recital,  at  daybreak,  of  ghostly  visions. 

I.  HABITS  OF  FUR-SEAL  PUPS  [Section  9]. — I  have  repeatedly  watched  young  pups  as  they  made  advances  to 
nurse  from  another  pup's  mother ;  the  result  invariably  being,  that  while  the  mother  would  permit  her  own  offspring 
to  suckle  freely,  yet,  when  these  little  strangers  touched  her  nipples,  she  would  either  move  abruptly  away,  or  else 
turn  quickly  down  upon  her  stomach,  so  that  the  maternal  fountains  were  inaccessible  to  the  alien  and  hungry 
"  kotickie".  I  have  witnessed  so  many  examples  of  the  females  turning  pups  away,  to  suckle  only  some  particular 
other  one,  that  I  feel  sure  I  am  entirely  right  in  saying  that  the  seal-mothers  know  their  own  young ;  and  that  they 
will  not  permit  any  others  to  nurse  save  their  own.  I  believe  that  this  recognition  of  them  is  due  chiefly  to  the 
mother's  scent  and  hearing. 

J.  PARASITES  OF  THE  FUR-SEAL  [Section  9]. — The  fur-seal  spends  a  great  deal  of  time,  both  at  sea  and  on 
land,  in  scratching  its  hide ;  for  it  is  annoyed  by  a  species  of  louse,  a  pediculus,  to  just  about  the  same  degree  and  in 
the  same  manner  that  our  dogs  are  by  fleas.  To  scratch,  it  sits  upon  its  haunches,  and  scrapes  away  with  the  toe- 
nails  of  first  one  and  then  the  other  of  its  hind-flippers ;  by  which  action  it  reaches  1'eadily  all  portions  of  its  head, 
neck,  chest,  and  shoulders  ;  and,  with  either  one  or  the  other  of  its  fore-flippers,  it  rubs  down  its  spinal  region  back 
of  the  shoulders  to  the  tail.  By  that  division  of  labor  with  its  feet,  it  can  promptly  reduce,  with  every  sign  of 
comfort,  any  lousy  irritation  wheresoever  on  its  body.  This  pcdiculus  peculiar  to  the  fur-seal  attaches  itself  almost, 
exclusively  to  the  pectoral  regions  ;  a  few,  also,  are  generally  found  at  the  bases  of  the  auricular  pavilions. 

When  the  fur-seal  is  engaged  in  this  exercise,  it  cocks  its  head  and  wears  exactly  the  same  expression  that  our 
common  house-dog  does  while  subjugating  and  eradicating  fleas ;  the  eyes  are  partly  or  wholly  closed;  the  tongue 
iolls  out ;  and  the  whole  demeanor  is  one  of  quiet  but  intense  satisfaction. 

The  fur-seal  appears  also  to  scratch  itself  in  the  water  with  the  same  facility  and  unction  so  marked  on  land; 
only  it  varies  the  action  by  using  its  fore-hands  principally,  in  its  fluvatile  exercise,  while  its  hind-feet  do  most  of 
the  terrestrial  scraping. 

K.  HEALTHINESS  OF  THE  FUR-SEALS  [Section  9].— While  I  have  written  with  much  emphasis  upon  the  total 
absence  of  any  record  as  to  the  prevalence  of  an  epidemic  in  these  large  rookeries,  I  should,  perhaps,  mark  the  fact 
that  no  symptoms  of  internal  diseases  have  ever  been  noticed  here,  such  as  tuberculosis  of  the  lungs,  etc.,  which 
invariably  attack  and  destroy  the  fur-seal  when  it  is  taken  into  confinement,  as  well  as  the  sea-lions  also;  the  latter, 
however,  have  a  much  greater  power  of  endurance  under  such  artificial  circumstances  of  life.  The  thousands  upon 
inousauds  of  disemboweled  Pribylov  fur-seal  carcasses  have  never  presented  abnormal  or  diseased  viscera  of  any 
kind. 

L.  BEHAVIOR  OF  FUR-SEALS  AT  NIGHT  [Section  9]. — I  naturally  enough,  when  beginning  my  investigation  of 
these  seal-rookeries,  expected  to  find  the  animals  subdued  at  night,  or  early  morning,  on  the  breeding-grounds; 
but  a  few  consecutive  nocturnal  watches  satisfied  me  that  the  family  organization  and  noise  was  as  active  at  one  time 
as  at  another  throughout  the  whole  twenty-four  hours.  If,  however,  the  day  preceding  had  chanced  to  be  abnormally 
warm,  I  never  failed  then  to  find  the  rookeries  much  more  noisy  and  active  during  the  night  than  they  were  by 
daylight.  The  seals,  as  a  rule,  come  and  go  to  and  from  the  sea,  fight,  roar,  and  vocalize  as  much  during  midnight 
moments  as  they  do  at  noonday  times.  An  aged  native  endeavored  to  satisfy  me  that  the  "seecatchie"  could 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  163 

see  much  better  by  twilight  and  night  than  by  daylight,  I  am  not  prepared  to  prove  to  the  contrary,  but  I  think 
that  the  fact  of  his  not  being  able  to  see  so  well  himself  at  that  hour  of  darkness  was  the  true  cause  of  most  of  his 
belief  in  the  improved  nocturnal  vision  of  the  seals. 

As  I  write,  this  old  Aleut,  Phillip  Vollkov,  has  passed  to  his  final  rest — "nn  konchielsah  "  winter  of  1878-'79. 
He  was  one  of  the  real  characters  of  St.  Paul;  he  was  esteemed  by  the  whites  on  account  of  his  relative  intelligence, 
and  beloved  by  the  natives,  who  called  him  their  "wise  man",  and  who  exulted  in  his  piety.  Phillip,  like  the  other 
people  there  of  his  kind,  was  not  much  comfort  to  me  when  I  asked  questions  as  to  the  seals.  He  usually  answered 
important  inquiries  by  crossing  himself,  and  replying,  "God  knows."  There  was  no  appeal  from  this. 

M.  SULLKNNESS  OF  OLD  MALE  SEALS  [Section  10].— The  old  males,  when  grouped  together  by  themselves, 
at  the  close  of  the  breeding-season,  indulge  in  no  humor  or  frolicsome  festivities  whatsoever.  On  the  contrary,  they 
treat  each  other  with  surly  indifference.  The  mature  females,  however,  do  not  appear  to  lose  their  good  nature  to 
anything  like  so  marked  a  degree  as  do  their  lords  and  masters,  for  they  will  at  all  seasons  of  their  presence  on  the 
islands  be  observed,  now  and  then,  to  suddenly  unbend  from  severe  matronly  gravity  by  coyly  aiid  amiably  tickling 
and  gently  teasing  one  another,  as  they  rest  in  the  harems,  or  later,  when  strolling  in  September.  There  is  110  sign 
given,  however,  by  these  seal  mothers  of  desire  or  action  in  fondling  or  caressing  their  pups;  nor  do  the  young 
appear  to  sport  with  any  others  than  the  pups  themselves,  when  together.  Sometimes  a  yearling  and  a  five  or  six 
months-old  pup  will  have  a  long-continued  game  between  themselves.  They  are  decidedly  clannish  in  this  respect — 
creatures  of  caste,  like  Hindoos. 

X.  LEAPING  OUT  OF  WATEE:  "DOLPHIN  JUMPS"  [Section  10]. — As  I  never  detected  the  sea-lions  or  the 
hair-seals  leaping  from  the  water  around  these  islands,  in  those  peculiar  dolphin-like  jumps  which  I  have  hitherto 
described,  I  made  a  note  of  it  early  during  my  first  season  of  observation,  for  corroboration  in  the  next.  It  is 
so:  neither  the  sea-lion  nor  the  hair-seal  here  earer  leaped  from  the  ocean  in  this  agile  and  singular  fashion 
heretofore  described.  Allen,  so  conservative  usually,  seems,  however,  to  have  fallen  into  an  error  by  reading  the 
notes  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Blake,  descriptive  of  the  sea-lions  of  the  Gallapagos  islands.  As  Allen  quotes  them  entire  in  a 
foot-note  (page  211,  History  of  North  American  Pinnipeds),  I  am  warranted  in  calling  attention  to  the  fact;  that  no 
authentic  record  has  as  yet  been  made  of  such  peculiar  swimming  by  Pliocidce,  or  the  sea-lion  branch  of  the  Otariidec. 
My  notice  has  been  called  to  this  mistake  by  Prolessor  Allen's  own  note,  page  367,  upon  a  quotation  from  my  work, 
citing  Mr.  Blake's  notes  above  referred  to,  which  are  themselves  very  interesting,  but  do  not  even  hint  at  a  dolphin- 
jump. 

How  fast  the  fur-seal  can  swim,  when  doing  its  best,  I  am  naturally  unable  to  state.  I  do  know  that  a  squad 
of  young  "holluschickie"  followed  the  "Reliance",  in  which  I  was  sailing,  down  from  the  latitude  of  the  seal- 
islands  to  Akootan  pass  with  perfect  ease  ;  playing  around  the  vessel,  while  she  was  logging  straight  ahead,  14  knots 
to  the  hour. 

The  fur  seal,  the  sea  lion,  the  walrus,  and  the  hair-seal  all  swim  around  these  islands,  and  in  these  waters, 
submerged,  extended  horizontally  and  squarely  upon  their  stomachs.  I  make  this  note  here  because  I  am  surprised 
to  read  [on  page  G31,  Allen:  Hist.  N.  A.  Pinnipeds]  that  the  harp  (hair)  seal's  "favorite  position  when  swimming,  as 
affirmed  by  numerous  observers,  is  on  the  back  or  side,  in  which  position  they  also  sleep  in  the  water".  Although 
this  is  a  far  distant,  geographically  speaking,  relative  of  the  hair-seal  of  St.  Paul  island,  yet  the  remarkable 
difference  in  fashion  of  swimming  seems  hardly  warranted,  when  the  two  animals  are  built  exactly  alike.  Still,  I 
hasre  no  disposition  to  question,  earnestly,  the  truth  of  the  statement,  inasmuch  as  I  have  learned  of  so  many  very 
striking  radical  differences  in  habits  of  animals  as  closely  related,  as  to  pause,  ere  seriously  doubting  this  assertion 
that  a  harp-seal's  favui  ite  way  in  swimming  is  to  lie  upon  its  back  when  so  doing.  It  is  simply  an  odd  contradiction 
to  the  method  employed  by  the  hair-seals  of  the  North  Pacific  and  of  Bering  sea. 

While  I  am  unable  to  prove  that  the  fur-seal  possesses  the  power  to  swim  to  a  very  great  depth,  by  actual  tests 
instituted,  yet  I  am  free  to  say  that  it  certainly  can  dive  to  the  uttermost  depths,  where  its  food-fish  are  known  to 
live  in  the  ocean;  it  surely  gives  full  and  ample  evidence  of  possessing  the  muscular  power  for  that  enterprise. 
In  this  connection,  it  is  interesting  to  cite  the  testimony  of  Mr.  F.  Borthen,  the  proprietor  of  the  Fro  islands,  a  group 
of  small  islets  off  Troudhjems  fiord,  in  Xorway;  this  gentleman  has  had  an  opportunity  of  watching  the  gray -seal 
(Halichcerus  grypits)  as  it  bred  and  rested  on  these  rocks  during  an  extended  period  of  time.  Among  many 
interesting  notes  as  to  the  biology  of  this  large  hair-seal,  he  says,  "As  a  proof  that  they  (the  seals)  fetch  their  food 
from  a  considerable  depth,  it  is  related  that  a  few  years  ago  a  young  one  was  found  caught  by  one  of  the  hooks  of  a 
fishing  line  that  was  placed  at  a  depth  of  between  70  and  80  fathoms,  on  the  outer  side  of  the  islands.  Gray-seals 
have  several  times  been  seen  to  come  up  to  the  simace  with  lings  (Moha  rulgaris)  and  other  deep-water  fishes  in 
their  mouths,  such  fishes  seldom  or  never  found  at  a  less  depth  than  between  CO  and  70  fathoms." — [Bobert  Collett 
on  the  Gray  Seal,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.,  London:  Part  ii,  1881,  p.  3S7.] 

O.  MONSTROSITIES  AMONG  THE  SEALS. — Touching  this  question  of  monstrosities,  I  was  led  to  examine  a 
number  of  alleged  examples  presented  to  my  attention  by  the  natives,  who  took  some  interest,  in  their  sluggish  way. 
as  to  what  I  was  doing  here.  They  brought  me  an  albino  fur-seal  pup,  nothing  else,  and  gravely  assured  me  that 
they  knew  it  owed  its  existence  to  the  fecundation  of  a  sea-lion  cow  by  a  fur-seal  bull ;  "it  not  so,  how  could  it  get 
that  color!"  I  was  also  confronted  with  a  specimen — a  full  and  finely  grown  four-year-old  CaUorninus  which  had, 


164  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

at  some  earlier  day,  lost  its  testicles  either  by  fighting  or  accident  while  at  sea ;  perhaps  shaven  off  by  the  fangs  of 
a  saw  toothed  shark,  and  also  gravely  asked  to  subscribe  to  the  presence  of  a  hermaphrodite ! 

Undoubtedly  some  abnormal  birth-shapes  must  make  their  appearance  occasionally  ;  but,  at  no  time  while  I 
was  there,  searching  keenly  for  any  such  manifestation  of  malformation  on  the  rookeries,  did  I  see  a  single 
example.  The  morphological  symmetry  of  the  fur-seal  is  one  of  the  most  salient  of  its  characteristics,  viewed  as 
it  rallies  here  in  such  vast  numbers ;  but  the  osteological  differentiation  and  asymmetry  of  this  animal  is  equally 
surprising. 

P.  THE  DERIVATION  OF  THE  NOMENCLATURE  OF  THE  ROOKERIES.  The  Reef  rookery — "The  Reef,  so-called 
on  account  of  that  dangerous  line  of  submerged  rocks,  scarcely  awash,  which  makes  out  to  the  southward  from 
the  point.  The  very  first  seals  of  the  season  usually  land  here  every  spring. 

Zoltoi  hauling-grounds.—T?rom  "Zolotoi",  or  "golden",  a  Russian  title  given  to  the  beach  on  account,  perhaps, 
of  its  beauty,  contrasted  with  the  rough,  rocky  coasts  elsewhere  on  the  island.  There  is  no  trace  of  precious  mineral 
in  its  composition,  however,  or  even  the  glint  of  iron  pyrites. 

Gorbotch  rookery. — "Gorbotch",  or  "humpback";  this  name  doubtless  given  it  from  the  broken-backed  outline 
to  the  west  shore  of  the  reef  peninsula,  on  which  the  rookery  is  located. 

Nah  Speel  rookery. — "Nah  Speel",  corrupted  from  "  speetsah",  or  point,  why  so  distorted  I  have  not  satisfactorily 
learned  from  the  people.  It  arises  from  some  localism,  undoubtedly,  pertinent  long  ago,  but  since  forgotten. 

Lvkannon  rookery. — "Lukannon";  so  named  after  one  of  the  liussian  pioneers,  a  sailor,  who  is  said  to  have 
taken  from  St.  Paul  island  in  1787,  over  5,000  sea-otters,  aided  by  another  promyshlenik,  named  Kaiekov;  in  the 
following  year  they  only  secured  1,000;  and  since  then  none  have  ever  been  taken  from  there  to  notice;  while 
during  the  last  forty  years  not  one,  even,  has  been  seen. 

Keetavie  rookery. — "  Keetavie",  from  "Keet",  or  Whale.  When  the  whaling  fleets  were  active  in  these  waters, 
1849-'56,  a  very  large  right  whale,  killed  by  some  ship's  crew,  drifted  ashore  at  the  point  here,  and  has  thus  given 
this  name  to  it. 

Tolstoi  rookery. — "Tolstoi",  or  "thick".  This  is  an  indefinite  name  which  the  Russians  use  all  over  their 
geography  of  Alaska,  just  as  we  employ  "Deer  Creek"  or  "Muddy  Fork"  in  our  topographical  nomenclature  of 
the  West.  This  point  at  St.  Paul  is,  however,  a  thick  and  solid  one;  more  so  than  any  other  headland  there. 

Zapadnfe  rookery. — "Zapadnie,"  or  "westward";  one  of  the  few  bear  stories,  which  the  natives  told  me,  in 
response  to  my  queries  as  to  the  presence  of  polar  "medvaidskie"  in  early  times,  is  located  between  Boga  Slov  and 
Zapadnie  point;  there,  are  one  or  two  rude  basaltic  caves  on  the  slopes  of  this  hill,  into  which  the  natives  can 
squeeze  themselves  by  great  effort;  here,  they  have  declared  to  me,  that  as  recently  as  1848,  a  large  polar  bear 
lived  and  infested  the  island  for  some  time.  It  was  finally  shot  by  a  posse  comitatus  of  the  people,  who  were  assisted 
by  an  English  whale-boat's  crew  that,  noticing  the  skurry  on  land,  came  ashore  and  joined  in  the  hunt,  armed  with 
iheir  lances.  No  record  is  made  of  bruin  on  the  Pribylov  since  the  death  of  this  one.  It  undoubtedly  was  astray 
from  St.  Matthew  island,  two  hundred  miles  to  the  northward.  Prior  to  this  event,  the  natives  count  several  bear 
fights  and  routs — at  wide  intervals,  however — since  the  occupation  of  the  islands. 

Polavina  rookery. — "Polavina",  or  "halfway'';  so  named  because  the  point  and  the  old  deserted  village  site 
contiguous  was  nearly  half-way  between  Novastoshnah  and  the  village.  An  officer  of  the  government,  0.  P.  Fish, 
United  States  Signal  Service,  in  1874,  started  out  to  measure  anew  the  height  of  Polavina  Sopka;  he  strapped  a 
barometer  to  his  shoulders,  and  left  the  village  early  one  July  morning.  The  fog  thickened  up  that  noon  rather 
more  solidly  than  usual,  and  when  he  came  down  he  missed  the  sealers'  well-defined  trail  between  Northeast  point 
and  Lukannon,  and  brought  up  on  the  shore  of  that  little  round  lake,  just  southwest  of  the  point.  He  actually 
passed  the  whole  of  the  remainiug  daylight,  six  or  seven  hours,  in  walking  around  it,  and  declared  that  he  would 
never  have  left  this  unconscious  circular  tramp  had  the  fog,  as  is  usual,  not  lifted  just  at  late  evening  and  given  him 
better  bearings.  He  never  knew  or  suspected  until  then  that  he  was  walking  in  his  own  tracks.  This  is  a  true  fog 
story. 

Novastoshnah  rookery. — "A  place  of  recent  growth,"  so  named  from  the  fact  that  in  early  times — 1787-'90 — 
Hutchinson's  hill  formed  an  island  distinct  and  Wtjil-defined  from  St.  Paul;  the  people  then  used  to  go  from  Vesolia 
Mista  over  to  Northeast  point  in  boats. 

THE  ST.  GEORGE  ROOKERIES. — There  is  nothing  peculiar  to  the  nomenclature  of  the  St.  George  rookeries; 
they  all  bear  English  names  around  the  village,  while  "Zapadnie"  is  named  simply  as  it  lies  west  therefrom,  and 
"  Starry  Ateel"  because  it  is  near  the  site  of  an  old  settlement  on  the  island. 

FIRST  ARRIVALS  OF  "  HOLLUS<-;HICKIE  "  USUALLY  APPEAR  MAY  14TH-15TH. — The  first  "driving",  for  the 
season,  of  the  "holluschickie"  seldom  takes  place  sooner  than  the  12th  or  15th  of  May;  then  only  small  numbers 
are  secured,  usually  on  the  Reef  point  at  St.  Paul,  and  at  the  Great  Eastern  rookery  on  St.  George;  they  are  driven 
thus  early  for  food,  though  the  skins  are  always  carefully  taken  and  accepted  by  the  company;  the  sealing  season 
opens  lawfully  by  the  1st  of  June  and  closes  on  the  15th  of  August.  But  in  practice  it  does  not  begin  until  the 
12th-14th  of  June  and  ends  by  the  20th-25th  of  July. 

ANNUAL  CROAKING  BY  THE  SEALKRS. — I  noticed  in  this  connection  a  very  queer  similarity  between  the  sealers 
on  St.  Paul  and  our  farmers  at  home:  they,  just  as  the  season  opens,  invariably  prophesy  a  bad  year  for  seals  and  a 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


165 


scant  supply;  then  when  the  season  closes  they  will  gravely  tell  you  that  there  never  were  so  many  seals  on  the 
island  before!  I  was  greeted  in  this  manner  by  the  agents  of  the  company  and  the  government  in  1872,  again  in 
1873,  and  again  in  1874.  I  did  not  get  up  to  the  grounds  in  1876  soon  enough  to  hear  the  usual  spring  croaking  of 
of  disaster;  but  arrived,  however,  in  time  to  hear  the  regular  cry  of  "never  was  so  many  seals  here  before"! 

40.  FINAL  NOTES  AND  TABLES  RELATIVE  TO  THE  VALUE,  PROTECTION,  AND  GROWTH  OF 
THE  FUR  SEAL;  AND  THE  REVENUE  DERIVED  FROM  THAT  INDUSTRY  ON  THE 

PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. 

AN  EXHIBIT  OF  VALUES  GIVEN  BY  VENIAMINOV. — Pt.  i:  Zapie&ie,  etc.,  p.  83,  showing  the  relative  importance, 
commercially,  of  the  land  and  marine  furs  taken  from  the  Oonalashka  district  (and  sold)  in  1833,  by  the  Russian 
American  Company.  (This  district  embraces  the  Pribylov  islands.) 


Sort  of  far. 

Number  of 
skins. 

Price  per  skin. 

Sum  of 
value. 

Reduced  to 
our  currency. 

Remarks  by  the  author,  H.  W.  E. 

100 

450  paper  rubles. 

45,000 

$9,000 

Enhydra  marina. 

300 

150  paper  rabies. 

45,000 

9,000 

Yulpttfvlrut  Tar.  argcntatu*. 

800 

25  paper  rubles. 

15.000 

3,000 

Vulpttfulruu  Tar.  dtcuuatut. 

SCO 

10  paper  rubles. 

5,000 

1,000 

Yulpft  fulmu. 

1,500 

10  paper  rubles. 

15,000 

3,000 

Yvlpet  lagoput. 

60 

50  paper  rabies. 

4,000 

800 

Lutra  canadengit. 

15,000 

50  paper  rubles. 

750,000 

150,000 

Callorhinu*  urginu*  . 

100  poods. 

80  paper  rubles. 

8,000 

1,600 

A  "pood  is  36^j  pounds  avoirdupois. 

200  poods. 

40  paper  rubles. 

8,000 

1,600 

The  baleen  from  the  right  whale,  Bateena. 

1,000 

200 

Deer  and  sea-lion  skins,  odds  aad  ends,  etc. 

.->•  '»  i' 

$179,200 

The  country  (Alaska)  is  divided  up  into  5  districts :  Sitka,  Kadiak,  Oonalashka,  Atka,  and  the  North. 

This  whole  country  is  under  the  control  and  government  of  the  "Russian-American  Company".  *  *  *  The 
business  is  conducted  with  a  head,  or  a  colonial  governor,  assisted  by  officers  of  the  Imperial  navy  (Russian),  and 
those  of  the  company's  fleet,  and  other  chiefs ;  in  every  one  of  the  districts  the  company  has  an  office,  which  is 
under  the  direction  of  an  office  chief  (or  agent),  and  he  in  turn  has  foremen  (or  "bidarsheeks"). 

The  company  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul  killed  from  60,000  to  80,000  fur-seals  per  annum,  but  in  the  last  time 
(1833!),  with  all  possible  care  in  getting  them,  they  took  only  12,000.  On  the  island  of  St.  George,  instead  of  getting 
40,000  or  35,000,  only  1,300  were  killed.  *  *  *  [Veniaminov:  Zapitslcie,  etc..pt.  i:  chap,  xii,  1840.] 

The  table  and  extracts  which  I  quote  above  give  me  the  only  direct  Russian  testimony  as  to  the  value  of  the 
Pribylov  fur-seal  catch  when  the  skins  were  in  scant  supply.  It  will  be  seen  that  they  were  worth  then  just  $10  each. 

I  now  append  a  brief  but  significant  extract  from  Techmainov — significant  simply  because  it  demonstrates  that 
all  Russian  testimony,  other  than  Veniaminov's,  is  utterly  self-contradictory  in  regard  to  the  number  of  seals  taken 
from  the  Pribylov  islands.  Techmaiuov  first  gives  a  series  of  tables  which  he  declares  are  a  true  transcript  and  exhibit 
of  the  skins  sold  out  of  Alaska  by  the  Russian -American  Company.  The  latest  table  presented,  and  up  to  the  date 
of  his  writing,  1862,  shows  that  372,894  fur-seal  skins  were  taken  from  the  Pribylov  islands,  via  Sitka,  to  the  Russian 
markets  of  the  world,  in  the  years  1842-1862,  inclusive;  or  giving  an  average  catch  of  18,644  per  annum,  (p.  221.) 
Then  further  on  as  he  writes  (nearly  one  hundred  pages),  he  stultifies  his  record  above  quoted  by  using  the  language 
and  figures  as  follows: 

"In  earlier  times  more  were  taken  than  in  the  later;  at  present  (1862)  there  are  taken  from  the  island  of  St. 
Paul  70; 000  annually  without  diminishing  the  number  for  future  killing;  on  St.  George,  6,000.  *  *  *  From  1842 
to  1861  there  were  taken  from  the  island  of  St.  Paul  277,778  seal  skins;  blue  foxes,  10,508;  walrus  teeth,  104  poods; 
from  St.  George,  31,923  fur-seals ;  blue  foxes,  24,286."  [P.  Techmainov :  Eestorecheskoi  Obozerainia  Obrazovania, 
Russian-American  Company;  pt.  ii,  p.  310, 1863,  St.  Petersburg.]  Further  comment  is  unnecessary  upon  this  author, 
who  thus  writes  a  "history  of  the  doings  of  the  Russian-American  Company".  Still,  since  Veniaminov's  time, 
1838-'40,  it  is  the  only  prima  facie  testimony  that  we  have  touching  these  subjects  while  under  Russian  domination. 

RUSSIAN  GOVERNORS  CONTROLLING  THE  PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. — The  following  list  gives  the  names  of  the 
several  autocratic  governors  of  the  Russian-American  Company,  who,  in  their  order  of  mention,  exercised  absolute 
control  over  the  the  Pribylov  islands  between  1799  and  1867,  inclusive ;'  1,  Baranov ;  2,  Yahnovskie ;  3,  Hooray vev  ; 
4,  Chestyahkov;  5,  Wrangell ;  6,  Kooprianov ;  7,  Etholine;  8,  Tebenkov;  9,  Rossenbnrg;  10,  Viaviatskie;  11, 
Foragelm;  12,  Maxsutov.  Of  the  above,  with  the  exception  of  Baranov,  who  was  a  self-made  man,  and  General 
Viaviatskie,  of  the  Russian  army,  all  the  others  were  admirals  and  captains  in  the  Imperial  navy  of  Russia. 

FIRST  EXEMPTION  OF  FEMALES  IN  DRIVING. — In  the  details  of  an  old  letter  from  a  Creole  agent  of  the 
Russian-American  Company,  on  St.  Paul,  in  1847,  I  find  the  following  side  reference  to  the  number  of  skins  which 
were  shipped  from  the  Pribylov  islands  that  season :  [Ms.  letter  of  Kazean  Shiesneekov,  St.  Paul  island,  1847.] 

5,606  "holluscliickov  "  (young  males). 

1,894  "sairiee"  (four  and  five  year-old  males),  or  a  total  of  7,497. 


1G6  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

This  is  interesting  because  it  is  the  record  of  the  first  killing  on  the  seal-islands  when  the  females  were  entirely 
exempted  from  slaughter. 

THE    SEAL-ISLANDS   WERE    THE    EXCHEQUER    OF    THE    RUSSIAN -AMERICAN    COMPANY:    1799-1825. — "The 

Russians  in  their  colonial  possession  nnder  Baranov,  made,  first,  the  seal-skin  the  basis  of  all  transactions  with 
foreigners,  by  buying  up  whole  cargoes  of  goods  and  provisions  brought  into  this  country  by  English  and  American 
traders,  and  paying  for  the  same  in  this  way.  In  other  words,  the  seal-islands  were  the  exchequer  where 
the  Russian  authorities  could  with  certainty  turn  and  lay  their  hands  upon  the  necessary  currency.  These 
American,  English,  and  other  foreign  sea-captains,  having  disposed  of  their  supplies  at  Sitka  or  Kadiak  in  this 
manner,  took  their  fur-seal  skins  to  China  and  disposed  of  them  at  a  handsome  advance  for  tea,  rice,  etc.,  in 
exchange.  The  profits  made  by  these  foreigners  having  reached  the  ears  of  the  Russian  home  management  of  the 
fur  company  controlling  Alaska,  it  was  ordered  then  that  payments  in  fur-seal  skins  for  these  foreign  supplies 
should  cease,  and  that  the  Russians  themselves  would  ship  their  skins  to  China  and  enjoy  the  emolument  thereof. 
The  result  of  this  action  was  that  the  Chinese  market  did  not  prove  as  valuable  to  them  as  it  was  to  the  foreigners; 
it  became  overstocked,  and  a  general  stagnation  and  depression  of  the  seal-business  took  place  and  continued  until 
a  change  of  base,  in  this  respect,  was  again  made,  and  the  skins  of  the  fur-seal  were  shipped,  together  with  the 
beaver,  in  bulk  to  the  great  Chinese  depot  of  Kiachta,  where  the  Russians  exchanged  these  peltries  for  the  desired 
supplies  of  tea;  the  trade  thereof  assuming  such  immense  proportions  that  the  record  is  made  where,  in  a  single 
year,  the  Russian  Fur  Company  paid  to  their  government  the  enormous  duty  upon  importations  of  tea  alone  of 
2,000,000  silver  rubles,  or  $1,500,000.  This  was  the  period  in  the  history  of  the  seal-islands  when,  for  a  second 
time,  and  within  the  writing  of  Veniaminov,  the  seal-life  thereon  was  well  nigh  exterminated.  The  first  decimation 
of  these  interests  took  place  in  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  shortly  after  the  discovery  of  the 
islands,  when,  it  is  stated,  2,000,000  skins  of  these  animals  were  rotting  on  the  ground  at  one  time.  Rezanov 
applied  the  correction  very  promptly  in  the  first  instance  of  threatened  extermination  of  these  valuable  interests, 
and  when  the  second  epoch  of  decimation  occurred  in  1834  to  1836,  Baron  Wrangell,  admirably  seconded  by  Father 
Veniaminov,  checked  its  consumption.  These  are  instances  of  care  and  far-sightedness  which  are  refreshing  to 
contemplate." — Ivan  Petrov:  Rept.  on  Pop.  and  Resources  of  Alaska  ;  Ex.  Doc.  No.  40,  46th  Cong.,  3d  Sess.,  1881. 

IRREGULARITY  OP  THE  APPEARANCE  OF  PELAGIC  FUR-SEALS. — While  investigating  the  subject  ot  the  actual 
numbers  of  fur-seals  secured  at  sea,  outside  of  the  Pribylov  islands,  I  learned  from  Captain  Lewis  (Hudson  Bay 
Company's  "Otter")  that  these  animals  never  appear  from  season  to  season  along  the  northwest  coast,  in  the  same 
general  aggregate.  For  illustration,  he  cited  the  fact  that  in  1872,  "  immense  numbers  of  fur  seal  pups  and  yearlings" 
were  observed  in  the  ocean  off  Vancouver's  island  and  the  entrance  to  Fuca  straits,  "but  last  year  (1873)  very  few 
of  them  again  were  seen."  He  thought  that  in  the  case  of  the  unwonted  abundance  of  fur-seals  there  during  1872,  it 
was  due  to  the  fact  "that  these  y«ung  seals  must  have  lost  their  bearings,  somewhat,  in  going  north,  and  ran  into 
the  coast  for  a  better  point  of  departure".  He  declared,  also,  that  fur-seals  had  never,  during  his  30  year's  service 
on  the  northwestern  coast,  been  known  to  appear  in  such  great  numbers  before,  nor  did  any  other  Hudson  Bay  man 
know  to  the  contrary.  In  1872  he  thought  that  "8,000  to  9,000  skins,  chiefly  pups  and  yearlings"  would  be  a  fair 
estimate  of  the  entire  quantity  taken  ;  for  1873  his  figures  showed  only  "  GOO  or  700  skins — these  were  all  older 
ones". 

RECENT  ERRONEOUS  STATEMENTS  IN  REGARD  TO  PELAGIC  BIRTH  OF  FUR-SEALS. — Allen  [in  his  History  of 
North  American  Pinnipeds,  pp.  772-773]  quotes  a  writer,  who  declares  that  any  statement  that  the  fur-seal  breeds 
alone  on  the  Pribylov  islands  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  grounds  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America  and  Alaska, 
is  "preposterous  to  his  mind".  This  author  claims  to  know  by  his  "own  personal  observation"  that  the  fur-seal 
does  "have  pups  in  open  ocean  off  the  entrance  to  Fuca  straits"!  On  the.  contrary,  I  assert  that  it  is  a  physical 
impossibility  for  the  Callorhinus  to  bring  forth  its  young  alive  in  the  water;  the  pup  would  sink  like  a  stone 
instantly  after  birth,  and  the  mother  be  wholly  helpless  to  save  it. 

I  should  not  heed  this  statement  of  Mr.  Swan,  reinforced  by  that  of  an  old  sailor,  so  gravely  entered  by  Allen, 
were  it  not  for  his  introduction  on  the  following  page  (773)  of  an  innocent  announcement  of  fact  by  Prof.  D.  S.  Jordan, 
who  by  it  is  unfortunately  made  to  appear  in  the  light  of  sustaining  the  idle  theory  of  pelagic  birth.  Jordan's 
simple  declaration  that  he  had  seen  a  "live  fur-seal  pup  [June  1,  1880]  at  Cape  Flattery,  taken  from  an  old  seal 
just  killed,  showing  that  the  time  of  bringing  them  forth  was  just  at  hand",  is  correct  as  far  as  it  goes;  but 
remember,  that  this  pup  had  been  alive  in  its  mother's  womb  for  eleven  mouths  prior  to  the  day  Jordan  saw  it;  and, 
ten  days  or  three  weeks  later  at  the  longest,  this  parent,  if  undisturbed,  would  have  naturally  brought  it  forth  in 
the  fullness  of  time  on  either  St.  Paul  or  St.  George,  of  the  Pribylov  group.  She  could  have  made  the  journey 
there  in  six  or  seven  days  easily  from  Fuca  straits,  if  she  had  been  pressed  to  do  so  by  the  expiration  of  her  period 
of  gestation. 

Naturally  enough,  the  careful  naturalist,  like  Allen,  no  matter  how  able,  will  be  deceived  now  and  then  hi 
this  manner,  by  untrustworthy  statements  made  by  those  who  are  supposed  to  know  by  personal  observation  of 
what  they  affirm.  Mr.  Swan  has  passed  nearly  an  average  lifetime  on  the  northwest  coast,  chiefly  in  the  waters  of 
Washington  territory,  and  has  rendered  to  natural  science  and  to  ethnology  efficient  and  valuable  service  by  his 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  '  167 

labor  in  collecting,  and  his  notes  in  regard  to  the  Makah  Indians  of  Cape  Flattery;  hence  his  erroneous  statements 
above  referred  to  (as  to  the  fur-seal)  had  aprima  fade  weight  with  Allen,  who,  therefore,  inserted  them,  and  thus 
gave  the  romance  an  appearance  of  reality,  which  I  cannot  pass  by  iu  silence.  The  other,  though  hesitating, 
authority,  Charles  Bryant,  is  an  old  mariner,  who  has  also  been  well  situated  by  virtue  of  eight  years'  residence  on 
St.  Paul  island ;  he  ought  to  know  better. 

ORIGINAL  SOURCE  OF  ERROR  IN  REGARD  TO  NUBILITY  OF  FEMALE  FUR-SEALS. — Veniaminov.  Zapieskie,  ob 
Oonalashkenskaho  Otdayla:  Veniaminov  little  dreamed,  as  he  labored  over  his  queer  calculations  iu  1834,  that  the 
then  depleted  rookeries  of  the  Pribylov  islands  would  have  yielded,  from  18G8  to  date,  an  annual  average  of  more 
than  three  times  32,000  fur-seal  skins;  which  number  he  at  that  time  deemed  the  maximum  limit  of  their  ultimate 
production,  should  his  tabulated  advice  be  carried  out.  Is  it  not  exceedingly  strange  that  he  never  thought,  during 
all  his  cogitations  over  this  problem,  of  the  real  vital  principle — of  letting  the  females  entirely  alone — of  sparing 
them  strictly?  I  think  that  the  worthy  Bishop  would  have  done  so,  had  he  passed  more  time  on  the  rookeries 
himself.  I  cannot  flud,  however,  who  the  Russian  was  that  had  the  good  judgment,  first  of  all  men,  to  inaugurate 
a  perpetual  "zapooska"  of  the  females  on  the  Pribylov  islands;  it  was  done  in  1S47,  for  the  first  time,  and  has  been 
rigidly  followed  ever  since,  giving  the  full  expansion  in  1857  to  that  extraordinary  increase  and  beneficial  result 
which  we  observe  thereon  to-day.  I  have  been  much  amused  in  reading  [Allen:  Hist.  Pinnipeds,  p.  383]  the 
argument  of  an  old  sailor,  who  had  beeu  stationed  for  eight  years  on  these  islands  in  charge  of  the  United  States 
Treasury  interests.  He  claims  to  feel  well  assured  that  the  female  seals,  when  two  years  old,  never  land  on  the 
islands  during  that  season  of  their  age;  remaining  out  at  sea,  and  not  coming  to  the  Pribylov  rookeries  until  their 
third  .rear  of  growth !  thus  bearing  their  first  young  when  four  years  old.  I  mention  the  fact,  because  it  is  not  an 
origin;  I  error  of  the  aged  treasury  agent,  but  is  evidently  adopted  from  this  account  of  Veniaminov,  which  was 
vi-rball/  translated  and  read  to  him  in  1869,  on  St  Paul  island,  by  one  of  the  ex-agents  of  the  Russian  Company. 
The  erroneous  statement,  however,  is  quoted  in  Allen:  Pinnipeds  (p.  383),  with  a  grave  preface  by  the  author, 
that  it  is  the  result  of  eight  years'  study  of  the  subject  on  the  islands.  Unfortunately,  Veniaminov,  himself,  did 
not  spend  even  eight  consecutive  weeks  on  the  seal-grounds  in  question,  and  had  he  passed  eight  months  there, 
investigating  the  matter,  he  would  not — could  not — have  made  this  superficial  blunder,  in  addition  to  his  numerous 
other  faulty  announcements,  etc.,  which  the  "  Zapieskie"  teems  with,  in  regard  to  the  seal-life. 

CAUSES  WHICH  OCCASION  AND  DEMAND  THE  PRESENCE  OF  A  REVENUE-MARINE  CUTTEU  IN  ALASKAN  WATERS. — 
There  remains  an  unwritten  page  in  the  history  of  the  action  of  the  government  toward  the  proiectiou  of  seal-life 
on  the  Pribylov  islands,  and  it  is  eminently  proper  that  it  should  te  inscribed  now,  especially  so  since  the  author 
of  this  memoir  was  an  eye-witness  and  an  actor  iu  the  scene.  When  he  first  visited  the  seal-islands,  in  1872-'73, 
he  was  compelled  to  take  passage  on  the  vessels  of  the  company  leasing  the  islands;  compelled,  because  the 
government  at  that  time  had  no  means  of  reaching  the  field  of  action,  except  by  the  favor  and  the  courtesy  of 
the  Alaska  Commercial  Company.  This  favor  and  this  courtesy,  as  might  be  expected,  was  always  promptly  and 
generous]/  proffered,  and  has  never  been  alluded  to  as  even  an  obligation  or  service  rendered  the  Treasury 
Department.  But,  nevertheless,  the  thought  occurred  to  me  at  the  time,  and  was  strengthened  into  conviction  by 
1874,  that  this  indifference  to  its  own  .self-respect  and  failure  to  support  properly  the  aims  of  its  agents  up  there, 
should  end ;  and  that  the  Treasury  Department  should  detail  one  of  its  own  vessels  to  visit,  transport,  and  aid  its 
officers  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  and  also  be  an  actual  living  evidence  of  power  to  execute  the  law  protecting  and 
conserving  the  same. 

In  this  sequence,  do  not  misunderstand  me;  while  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  never  entertained,  and 
do  not  now  entertain,  the  thought  of  refusing  the  favor  asked  by  the  government  in  transporting  its  own  treasury 
officials  to  and  from  the  seal-islands,  yet, 'it  would  be  a  relief  to  that  company  if  those  agents  aforesaid  should  be 
carried  up  and  down  upon  the  vessels  of  the  government — a  relief  solely  on  the  ground  that  a  carping  criticism 
is  always  made  upon  their  courtesy  and  kindness  in  this  respect,  and  a  corresponding  reflection  thrown  upon  the 
treasury  agents,  who  are  compelled  to  take  this  method  of  conveyance,  or  else  be  absent  from  their  field  of  duty,  which 
the  company  does  not  propose  to  effect  by  barring  them  from  its  steamer,  the  aforesaid  criticism  notwithstanding. 

Therefore,  upon  the  occasion  of  my  return  from  the  field  iu  question,  October,  1874,  I  clearly  recognized  the 
immediate  necessity  of  strengthening  the  arm  of  the  government  in  that  region,  because,  in  addition  to  the 
foregoing  reason,  the  following  still  more  urgent  one  existed  and  exists  : 

Early  in  1873  it  became  well  known  on  the  Pacific  coast,  that  the  officers  of  the  law  on  the  seal-islands  had  no 
means  of  enforcing  the  regulations  protecting  the  seal-life  on  the  same  or  in  the  waters  adjacent ;  hence,  a  number 
of  small  craft,  fitted  out  at  San  Francisco  and  contiguous  ports,  which  cleared  for  the  northwest  coast  and  the 
Aleutian  islands  on  "fishing  ventures";  but,  in  reality,  these  vessels  proceeded  directly  to  the  waters  and  rocks 
adjacent  to  the  seal-islands,  where,  in  plain  sight  of  the  villages  on  either  islet,  they  shot  the  swimming  seals  with 
assumed  indifference  and  great  affection  of  legality  ! 

In  order,  therefore,  that  this  plain  violation  of  law  and  its  disastrous  consequence  should  be,  effectually  punished, 
and  evaded,  I  published,  and  personally  urged  in  1874-'77,  the  urgent  need  and  great  propriety  of  enabling  the 
responsible  agents  of  the  government  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  to  enforce  the  law  as  well  physically  as  it  could  be 


1G8 


THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


done  theoretically ;  and  pointed  clearly  then  to  the  advantage  and  effect  which  a  revenue  marine  cutter  would  have, 
employed  for  this  purpose.  By  repeated  and  untiring  appearance  before  the  Committee  on  Appropriations  in  the 
House  and  the  Senate,  I  finally  secured  the  legal  authority  and  the  money  for  the  object  in  view.  And  the  late 
Captain  Baily,  in  the  "  Richard  Rush ",  made  the  first  cruise  in  the  season  of  1877,  that  had  been  ordered  and 
sustained  by  the  government  toward  the  direct  protection  of  the  seal-islands,  and  its  valuable  pioperty  thereon 
since  1869. 

The  interesting  Alaskan  reports,  which  have  arisen  from  the  incidental  cruisiugs  of  the  "  Rush "  and  the 
"Corwin",  United  States  Revenue  Marine,  owe  their  origin  to  the  above  chain  of  circumstances,  and  this  service, 
so  efficient  and  so  valuable,  will,  I  trust,  be  faithfully  sustained  by  the  government  in  the  future. 

THE  AUTHOR'S  CLOSING  PRESENTATION  OF  THE  SUBJECT. — As  I  end  this  memoir,  I  am  aware  of  one  omission 
which  should  not  be  overlooked.  It  is  the  absence  of  a  concise  and  condensed  table,  which  shall  exhibit  at  a  glance 
the  whole  physical  progress  made  by  the  fur-seal,  from  birth  to  advanced  puberty.  Therefore,  I  submit  the 
following  presentation  of  that  subject : 

Table  showing  the  relative  growth,  weight,  etc.,  of  the  fur-seals, 

[Compiled  from  the  field-notes  of  the  author,  made  npon  the  killing-grounds  of  St.  George  and  St.  Paul.] 


GROWTH. 
(A  fair  average  example.) 

1  day  old. 

6  months 
old. 

1  year  old. 

2  years 
old. 

3  years 
old. 

4  years 
old. 

5  years 
old. 

6  years  old. 

7  years  old. 

8  years  old. 

Tic-marks. 

Callorhinut  urtinut  (male)  . 

Length. 
12  to  13  in. 

12  to  13  in 

Length. 
24  in. 

24  in 

Length. 
38  in. 

37  ill 

Length. 
45  in. 

42)  in. 

Length. 
52  in. 

48  in. 

Length. 

5s  in. 

50  in 

Length. 
65  in. 

Length. 
72  in. 

Length. 
75  to  80  in. 

Length. 
Ceases. 

Direct,  from  tip  of  nosct 
to  root  of  tail. 
Do. 

GIRTH. 

(Immediately  behind  fore- 
flippert.) 

Callorhinut  urtinut  (male)  . 

Girth. 
9  to  in*  in. 

9  to  10  in 

Girth. 
25  ill. 

25  in 

Girth. 
25  in. 

25  in 

Girth. 
30  in. 

30  in 

Girth. 

•Min. 

34  in 

Girth. 
42  in. 

36  in 

Girth. 

.)_  in. 

37  in 

Girth. 
64  in. 

Girth. 
70  to  80  in. 

Girth. 
80  to  84  in. 

8  year  old  citation  an 
estimate  only. 

WEIGHT  (avoirdupois). 
Callorhinua  ursinus  (male)  . 

Lb>. 
5  to7J 

5  to  7 

Lbt. 
39 

39 

Lbt. 
40 

39 

Lbs. 
58 

'56 

Lbt. 
87 

60 

Lbt. 
135 

6i 

Lbt. 
200 

75 

Lbt. 
280  to  350 

Lbt. 
400  to  500 

Lbt. 
500  to  600 

7  and  8  year  estimates 
are  not  based  upon  ac- 
tual weights  ;  an  opin- 
ion merely. 

NOTE. — All  male  fur-seals,  from  yearlings  to  puberty,  are  termed  ''bachelors",  or  "holluschickie",  and  all  male  fur-seals,  from  the  age,  of  five  years  on,  are  termed 
("virile")  bulls,  or  " seacatchie ".  All  female  fur-seals  from  one  year  and  upward,  are  termed  "cows",  or  "matkamie"  ("mothers").  All  the  young, under 
yearlings,  are  termed  "pups",  or  "kotickie"  ("little  cats"). 

In  conclusion  I  desire  to  state  that,  as  to  the  relative  ages  of  the  male  and  female  Callorhinus,  I  have  hitherto, 
in  referring  to  it,  taken  the  general  ground  of  estimation  which  is  commonly  accepted  in  rating  the  duration  of 
mammalian  life.  ^Nevertheless,  on  this  point  especially,  I  feel  that  if  the  real  facts  of  the  comparative  longevity 
of  the  two  sexes  could  be  positively  ascertained,  the  great  discrepancy  which  the  table  above  faithfully  portrays 
and  suggests,  would  be  so  modified  as  to  make  the  relative  length  of  life  for  the  female  much  greater,  and  that 
of  the  male  correspondingly  less. 

In  my  discussion  of  the  reproduction  of  these  animals,  I  clearly  shovr  that  the  male  is  physically  qualified  to 
procreate  his  race  at  the  age  of  four  years — but  that  he  is  not  allowed  to  do  so  until  he  is  six  or  seven.  Also, 
that  the  female  becomes  a  mother  at  the  expiration  of  the  third  year  of  her  life,  and  the  immediate  opening  of  the 
fourth.  So,  really,  viewed  from  the  point  of  sheer  physical  ability,  if  undisturbed,  the  male  fur-seal  wears  the  "toga 
virilis"  at  the  close  of  the  third  and  beginning  of  the  fourth  year  of  his  life,  while  the  female  comes  out  eager  for 
fecundation  and  prospective  maternity  at  the  end  of  the  second  and  the  beginning  of  the  third  summer  of  her 
existence. 

TABULATED  EXHIBIT  OP  METHOD  OF  KILLING,  AND  SEASONS  OF  THE  YEAR  IN  WHICH  IT  is  DONE,  ON  THE 
PRIBYLOV  ISLANDS. — In  order  that  the  reader  may  the  more  clearly  understand  the  time  of  killing,  the  seasons  in 
which  it  is  done,  and  the  relative  selection  of  the  different  classes  of  seals  for  slaughter,  food,  etc.,  I  take  much 
satisfaction  in  being  able  to  submit  the  following  tabulation,  which  gives  at  a  glance  a  succinct  and  comprehensive 
epitome"  of  one  entire  sealing-season  and  its  work  on  the  Pribylov  islands.  This  table  is  literally  brought  down  to 
date,  and  the  figures  upon  which  it  is  based  I  have  taken  from  the  recent  official  report  of  Col.  H.  G.  Otis,  who  is 
tUe  treasury  agent  in  charge  of  the  interests  of  the  government  therein  represented.  I  ought,  also,  in  simple 
justice  to  the  authority  from  whom  I  have  taken  these  enumerations,  to  state  that  those  specifications  of  fact  are 
evidently  compiled  'from  his  field-notes  with  scrupulous  attention,  both  in  their  original  registration,  and  also  in 
their  transcription.  As  I  here  arrange  them,  they  present  a  photograph  of  the  entire  disposition  of  107,000  fur- 
seals  slain  upon  the  seal-islands  during  one  whole  year. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


169 


Table  showing  the  numbers  slain,  the  time  of  so  doing,  the  character,  and  the  disposition  made  of  the  fur-seal  on  the 

PribyloT  group  for  one  year  ending  July  20,  1881. 


Months;  time  of  slaughter. 

Xumber  of  fur-seals  killed  for 
native*'  food. 

Holluschickie  tilled  for  their 
skins. 

Grand  sum  total 

Remarks. 

Holluochlokle. 

! 

Rejected  skins. 

1 

ft 

Second  rato. 

Rejected  skins. 

Skins  aori'iiti'd 
by  Alaska 
Com'l  Co. 

Whole  number 
of  far-  teals 
(lain. 

ii 

I 

_ 
C 

II 

-u 

O 

*l 

f! 

FAINT  PAUL  ISLAND. 

Balance  left  overfrom  "  IfSSOconnt  " 
Julv  C20th  to  Slat)  1880 

228 

228 
10 

m 

Generally,  a  few  skins  left  behind  every 
season. 
Two  year  old  males  and  a  few  yearlings, 
principally. 
Two  and  three  year  old  males  general!  y  . 
Two  year  old  males  chiefly. 
Two  and  three  year  old  males  princi- 
pally- 
Pupa  killed  by  express  permission  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

261 

022 
661 
453 

540 
1,248 

1,058 
176 

6 

233 

13 

281 

622 
661 
463 

4,940 
3,251 

1,058 

176 

35,160 
41,345 

August,  1880 

Ml 
393 

64 

October  1880 

10 
4,400 
3 

10 
4,401 
14 

4 
5 

BO 
480 
1,201 

1,041 
171 

35,130 
41,308 

5 

36 

December  1880  

H 

islands. 
Do.                     Do. 
Terr  fine  skins  ;  first  arrivals,  two  and 
three  year  old  males. 
Very  fine  skins;   two  and  three  year 
old  males  chiefly. 
Do.                     Da 

A  few  skills  always  left  behind—  not 
properly  cured. 
Two  year  old  males,  principally. 
Two  and  three  year  old  males,  usually. 
Do.                     Do. 
Pups,  killed  by  express  permission  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Do.                     Do. 
Two  and  three  yearold  males  ;  fine  skins. 
Two  and  three  year  old  males;  first 
arrivals  of  the  new  sealing  year. 
Very  fine  skins;  two  and  three  year 
old  males  chiefly. 
Do.                     Da 

May  1881 

B 

June  1881  

34,836 
40,969 

294 
339 

11 
14 

u 

23 

3 

July  (1st  to  20th)  1881   

Total  

5,019 

4,413 

4,439 

1,  341     67  |  76,  033       633 

25 

39       3 

80,000       85.937 

BAEST  GEOBGE  BLAXD. 

Balance  left  over  from  "ISSOcount" 
July  (20th  to  31st),  1880  

25 

• 

147 
266 
58 
1 

10 
46 
87 

8,133 

11,227 

147 

277 

122 
63 

10 
46 
87 

147 
S77 
122 
G63 

805 
81 
87 

8,166 
11,257 

11 

September  1880 

64 
62 

October  1880             

500 

795 
35 

500 

7»5 
35 

December  1880  .  .  

May  1881  

8,133 
11  227 

i 

31 
25 

1 
5 

July  (1st  to  20th)  1881     

Total 



752 

1,  330       1,  341          126 

19,385    

i 

56       6 

20,  000  I    21,  505 

Pribylov  catch  for  1880  (St.  Paul 
and  St.  George  islands)  : 

5,771 

5,743 

5,780 

* 
1,467 

67 

93,418 

633 

26 

H 

9 

100,000 

107,442 

EXPLANATORY  COMMENTS  UPON  THE  ABOVE  TABLE. — It  will  be  at  once  noticed  that,  in  the  result  of  this 
last  season's  work  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  as  illustrated  so  clearly  above,  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company 
has  taken  its  full  annual  legal  quota  of  100,000  fur-seal  skins  therefrom.  I  call  attention  to  it,  because  it  is  the  first 
season  in  which  the  company  has  done  so ;  it  has  never  heretofore  permitted  more  than  99,800,  in  round  numbers, 
to  be  taken  and  charged  to  its  account,  preferring  to  always  be  a  little  within  the  mark,  on  account  of  the  exceeding 
difficulty  of  reconciling  the  enumeration  of  the  two  sets  of  government  officers,  when  their  counts  are  placed  side 
by  side.  For  instance,  the  list  of  the  treasury  agent  on  the  islands,  when  the  skins  are  first  shipped,  is  the  official 
indorsement  of  the  company's  catch  for  the  year ;  but  when  the  ship  reaches  San  Francisco,  then  these  skins  are  all 
counted  over  anew  by  another  staff  of  government  agents.  Should  the  tally  of  the  seal-island  agent  be  defective, 
and  show  that  it  was  so  by  the  recount  of  the  custom-house  officers  in  San  Francisco,  then  did  it  run  over  100,000 
skins,  the  company  would  have  an  annoying  and  unpleasant  explanation  to  make;  while  the  resident  treasury 
agent  would  be  charged  with  maladministration  of  his  affairs.  Therefore,  as  it  has  never  happened  before,  until 
this  season  of  1881,  that  the  two  counts  at  San  Francisco  and  St.  Paul  have  agreed  to  a  unit,  the  company  has  given 
strict  and  imperative  orders  that  no  more  than  99,800  or  99,85*  skins  shall  be  annually  taken  by  its  agents  from  the 
seal-islands.  Taking  the  full  quota  of  this  season  of  1881,  was  contrary  to  its  express  direction. 


170  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

• 

It  is  an  exceedingly  difficult  matter  to  count  these  skins,  precisely  to  a  dot,  when  they  are  rapidly  hustled  into 
the  baidars  and  then  tossed  below  the  decks  of  the  rolling,  pitching  ship  which  receives  them;  a  rough  sea  may  be 
running,  a  gale  of  wind  howling  through  the  rigging,  and  a  thick  fog  shrouding  all  in  its  wet  gloom.  I  believe, 
therefore,  from  my  own  full  experience  in  this  important  matter,  that  it  is  a  physical  impossibility,  at  many  seasons 
of  shipment,  to  tally  accurately  every  pelt  as  it  enters  the  vessel's  hold,  when  loaded  off  the  islands  here.  The 
Treasury  agent  who  comes  within  100  to  150  skins,  more  or  less,  of  the  true  100,000,  or  in  that  ratio  to  the  whole 
catch,  as  it  may  be,  is  doing  all  that  he  possibly  can  under  the  circumstances.  Naturally,  the  custom-house  tally  is 
considered  the  most  accurate,  by  reason  of  the  great  physical  advantages  attendant ;  and,  upon  its  certification  the 
company  pays  the  tax  levied  by  law. 

USELESS  SLAUGHTER  OF  THE  PUPS. — The  observer  will  also  notice,  that  during  the  last  season,  viz,  July  20, 
1880,  to  July  20,  1881,  as  shadowed  in  the  foregoing  table,  more  than  7,000  seals  were  killed  for  food,  the  skins  of 
which  were  simply  wasted— never  used;  and  of  that  aggregate  we  find  nearly  6,000,  or  about  nine-tenths  of  the 
entire  loss,  to  be  "pups".  At  this  point,  and  in  this  connection,  I  desire  to  enter  my  protest  against  the  useless 
and  wholly  uncalled-for  slaughter  of  these  pups,  which  is  annually  permitted  and  inadvertently  ordered,  with  the 
best  of  spirit,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  It  is  a  shiftless  legacy  ef  the  old  Russian  Company,  which  the 
p^sent  admirable  conduct  of  business  on  the  Pribylov  islands  really  renders  superfluous  and  wasteful;  it  is  simply 
catering  to  a  gastronomic  weakness  of  the  Aleuts,  that  should  not  be  considered,  inasmuch  as  the  supply  and  the 
flesh  of  the  two  and  three  year-old  males  is  fully  good  enough ;  and  most  of  the  skins  taken  from  such  animals  late 
in  October  and  thereon  to  the  end  of  the  year,  will  be  accepted  as  prime  by  the  company,  and  counted  in  the  regular 
annual  quota  for  exportation.  I  have  in  this  matter,  however,  been  quite  as  much  at  fault  as  the  Secretary  himself; 
more  so,  because  I  have  not  hitherto  directed  attention  to  it;  it  escaped  my  mind  in  1874,  and  I  have  not  had 
occasion  to  recall  it  until  the  present  writing. 

THE  SEASON  OF  1881  A  VERY  CREDITABLE  ONE. — The  exhibit  given  above,  of  the  work  performed  in  the 
height  of  the  sealing  season,  June  and  July,  is  a  better  one,  even,  than  any  one  which  has  passed  prior  to  it  under 
my  supervision.  In  other  words,  the  number  of  cut  or  rejected  skins  is  almost  infinitesimal  compared  with  the 
huge  aggregate  accepted ;  and,  were  it  not  for  the  wasted  pup  skins,  this  presentation  of  the  field-labor  on  the 
seal-islands  for  1881,  would  be  a  very  clean  and  economic  synopsis.* 

The  thought  also  occurred  to  me,  when  regarding  this  special  point  of  the  relative  improvement  in  the  method 
of  killing  and  handling  seals  and  pelts,  that  a  very  simple  yet  trustworthy  notice,  as  to  the  increase  or  diminution 
of  the  seal-life,  would  be  served  annually  in  the  following  manner:  in  1872,  I  observed  that  the  natives  never  had 
any  difficulty  in  getting  their  full  quota  of  " holluschickie "  daily,  during  the  prime  season  of  taking  skins;  again, 
in  1873,  I  saw  that,  if  anything,  the  number  of  "holluschickie"  required  was  easier  to  obtain  than  in  1872,  prior; 
still  again,  throughout  the  killing-season  of  1874,  the  constant  remark  of  all  concerned,  at  St.  Paul,  was  that  the 
prime  seals  were  never  so  abundant  before ;  and,  finally,  in  1876,  I  heard,  from  these  same  parties  interested,  that 
*  it  had  been  the  most  auspicious  season,  throughout,  ever  known  to  St.  Paul  island. 

Thus,  it  may  naturally  be  inferred,  that  this  steady  and  rather  increased  supply  of  "holluschickie"  from  year 
to  year,  means  nothing,  unless  it  points  to  a  relative  annual  augmentation  of  the  seal-life  on  the  Pribylov  islands ; 
ifr  t  and  it  really  acts  in  this  wise  as  a  life-barometer,  that  is  sensibly  affected  by  the  heavier  or  lighter  pressure  of  the 
rookeries  operating  upon  it. 

IJence,  the  foregoing  table,  brought  down  as  it  is,  to  date,  shows  that  the  chosen  seals  are  in  abundant  supply; 
he  work  was  remarkably  expeditious ;  that  the  natives  scarcely  waited  a  skin  by  cutting  on  the  killing-grounds ; 
'j'  all  in  all,  it  represents  a  highly  creditable  state  of  affairs,  suggestive  of  the  steady  condition  of  prosperity  and 
'  security,  which  I  unhesitatingly  prophesied  in  1873,  after  giving  the  matter  much  study  and  reflection. 

A  PRESENTATION    OF   THE    REVENUE    DERIVED    FROM   THE    PRIBYLOV   ISLANDS. — The   following   transcript 

'f~  fiom  the  books  of  the  Treasury  Department,  shows  the  exact  receipts  which  the  public  coffers  have  derived  as 
revenues  from  the  seal-industry  on  the  Pribylov  islands,  between  the  date  of  the  act  leasing  them,  July  1, 1870,  up 
to  August  20,  1881.  I  may  say,  without  the  least  exaggeration,  that  these  interests  never  yielded  a  tithe  of  this 
substantial  aid  and  support  to  the  government  of  Eussia,  and  they  would  not  have  returned  a  single  cent,  net,  to 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  had  they  not  been  so  wisely  and  promptly  protected  by  the  good  sense  of  our 
Congress  in  1870.  They  would  have  passed  in  a  few  short  seasons  beyond  all  knowledge  of  men,  as  far  as  their 
appearance  on  the  great  breeding  rookeries  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  was  concerned. 

•The  report  of  Colonel  Otis,  special  agent  Treasury  Department,  in  charge  Of  the  seal-islands,  for  1880,  contains  an  interesting  table, 
•which  covers  a  period  of  eleven  years,  viz,  1869-1880,  inclusive ;  and  it  shows,  first,  the  number  of  seal-skins  taken  in  each  sealing  season 
proper  on  St.  Paul  island ;  second,  the  number  of  days  expended  iu  the  work  per  annum  ;  third,  the  number  of  sealers  engaged ;  fourth, 
the  average  number  of  skins  taken  per  day;  and  fifth,  the  average  daily  credit  of  skins  taken  for  each  man.  The  deduction  which  that 
gentleman  makes  from  this  suggestive  and  instructive  codification,  is  that  the  seals  seem  to  sensibly  increase  from  year  to  year,  rather 
than  to  diminish  in  numbers. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA.  171 

TAX  AND  RENTAL  PAID  INTO  THE  TREASURY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  BY  THE  ALASKA  COMMERCIAL  COMPANY— 

THE  LESSEE  OF  THE  PREBYLOV  ISLANDS — 1870-'81. 

Tax  on  seal-skins  taken  by  the  Alaska,  Commercial  Company,  per  act  of  July  1,  1870. 

No.    422,  4th  quarter,  1870 $86,167  00 

No.    376,  1st  quarter,  1871 5,862  00 

No.  1215,  2d  quarter,  1871 9,051  00 

' $101,08000 

No.    753,  4th  quarter,  1871 159,545  63 

No.  1255,  2<1  quarter,  1872 102,607  00 

262, 352  63 

No.    596,  4th  quarter,  1872 252,181  12 

No.  1466,  3d  quarter,  1873 .-. 108,06600 

No.  1467,  3d  quarter,  1873 150,64875 

No.  1001,  4th  quarter,  1873 13,366  50 

272,081  25 

No.  1533,  3d  quarter,  1874 261,82275 

No.  1534,  3d  quarter,  1874 67200 

262,494  75 

No.    445,3d  quarter,  1875 10,10625 

No.  1515,  3d  quarter,  1875 147,59850 

No.    433,  4th  quarter,  1875 104,879  25 

262,584  00 

No.  1089,  3d  quarter,  1876 172,06350 

No.    433,  1st  quarter,  1877 64,092  00 

236, 155  50 

No.  1527,  3d  quarter,  1877 198,25675 

No.  1659,  3d  quarter,  1878 36,96525 

No.  1660,  3d  quarter,  1878 209,89500 

No.  1581,  4th  quarter,  1878 15,587  25 

262,447  50 

No.  1088,  3d  quarter,  1879 223,125  00 

No.  1686,  4th  quarter,  1879 39,275  25 

262,400  25 

3d  quarter,  1880 262,500  00 

1881 262,395  00 


Total  tax  paid  up  to  date,  August  20,  1881 2,896,927  75 

Plus  the  annual  rental  of  $55,000,  from  1871-1880,  inclusive,  plus  $5,480  75  rental  for  short  lease 
of  1870  =  rental  paid 555,480  75 


Grand  sum  total  of  tax  and  rental 3,452,408  50 


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GLOSSARY 


' 

41.  DEFINITION  OF  TECHNICAL  TERMS  AND  RUSSIAN  NOMENCLATURE,  USED  BY  THE 

AUTHOR  IN  THE  PRECEDING  MONOGRAPH. 

AHLUCKEYAK  (Aleutian). — A  rough  back-bone. 

ALEUT  (Russian). — Name  given  to  all  native  inhabitants  of  the  Aleutian  islands. 

ARREE  (Russian). — Lomria  arra.    The  guillemot,  or  murre;  so. named  from  the  bird's  harsh  cry  of  "arra-arra". 

BAILLIE  BRUSHKIE  (Russian).— Phaleris  psittacula.    Parroquet  Auk;  "white  bosom". 

BANYAH  (Russian). — A  steamy  bath-house. 

BARBIE  (Russian).— An  elderly  married  woman. 

BARRABKIE  (Russiau). — A  but. 

BAREABAEA  (Russian). — A  large  hut,  or  "kozarmie". 

BOOROON  (Russian). — Surf. 

BIDAREAH  (Russian). — A  large  skin-covered  boat,  propelled  with  oars,  or  used  with  sails  before  the  wind;  carries 

from  three  to  ten  tons. 

BIDARKA  (Russian). — A  small  skin-covered  canoe. 

BIDAESHIK  (Russian). — Ofte  who  eontrols  a  baidar  and  its  crew;  a'foreraan. 
BOBROVIA  (Russian). — Otter  island. 
BOGA  SLOV  (Russian). — Godfc  word.  \ 

BOORGA  (Russian). — Gale  that  blows  fiercely  and  is  laden  with  snow;  from  "booryah",  a  storm  or  tempest. 
BOLSHOI  (Ruse^n). — Big. 
BTJIK  (&jj»sian). — A  working  ox.-or  bull. 

BuLiu|Hj&lish).-«aThe  adult  male  fur- seal;  also  the  adult 'male  walrus  and  sea-lion. 
CAjfOOSKiE  (Russian). — Simorhynchm  cristatellus.    Crested  auk. 
CHIKIE  (Russian). — Larus  glaucus.    Burgomaster  gull. 

CHOBNIE  GoosE'(Russian). — Branta  canadensis  var.  leucopareia.    White-collared  goose. 
CHOOCHKIE  (Russian). — Simorhyiichus pusillus.    Least,  or  knob-billed  auk. 
CHOOCHIL  (Russian).— To  Stuff. 

COOKHNET  (Russian). — The  Aleutian  cooking  hut  outside  of  the  barrabkie. 
Cow  (English).— The  adult  female  of  the  fur-seal,  the  sea-lion,  and  the  walrus. 
DALNOI  MEES  (Russian). — Distant  cape. 
DEETIAH  (Russian).-*— Children. 
DOMASHNIE  (Russian). — Houses. 
EINAHXCHTO  (Aleutian). — The  mammae. 

EMANNLSIIK  (Russian). — Namesday;  or,  literally,  used  as  birthday. 
EPATHA  (Russian). — Fratercula  eomiculata.    Horned  puflSn. 
FLENSING  (English). — Act  of  removing  skins  from  seal  carcasses. 
FLIPPEE  (English). — The  fore-hand  and  hind-foot  of  fur-seal,  sea-lion,  and  walras. 
GORBOTCH  (Russian). — Humpback. 
GORODE  (Russian). — A  town;  a  village.  * 

GOVEROOSKIE  (Russian). — Larus  brevirostris,  and  L.  tridactylm.    Gulls. 
HAULING  (English). — Action  of  seals  in  coming  up  from  the  sea  over  the  land. 
HEAT,  "  HEATING"  (English). — That  sudden  decay  of  the  seal's  body  after  death. 
HOLLUSCHAK,  pi.  HOLLUSCHICKIE  (Russian).— Bachelor;  bachelors. 

178 


174  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

HUMPBACK  WHALE  (English). — Megaptera  versabilis. 

KALOG  (Aleutian).— All  the  small  cottoid  fishes. 

KAMLAIKA  (Russian). — The  water-proof  shirt. 

KAMMIN  (Russian).— Stone. 

KASIMINISTA  (Russian). — Rocky  place. 

KANOOSKA'(Russiau). — See  Canooskie,  antea.    "Little  captain.'- 

KAPOOSTAH  (Russian). — All  alga3.    Sea- weeds;  from  "  morskie  kapoosta",  a  "sea-cabbage". 

KAUTICK,  pi.  KAUTICKIE  (Russian). — Fur-seal,  collectively. 

KEETAVIE  (Russian). — Whale  place. 

KENCH  (English). — Bin  in  the  salt-house  for  pickling  fur-seal  skins. 

KESHLA  (Russian.) — Sour;  rotting. 

KIBITSCHA  (Russian). — The  common  four-wheeled  carriage  of  Russia. 

KILLER- WHALE  (English). — Orca  glaaiator,  var.  rectipinnis. 

KOLITSKJE  (Russian). — Tringa ptilocnemis,  and  all  waders  on  the  i-  lands. 

KOTICK,  pi.  KOTICKIE  (Russian). — Young  fur-seal. 

KVASS,  or  QUASS  (Russian). — Native  home-brewed  beer;  vile  product  of  flour,  dried  apples,  sugar,  and  water, 

fermented  in  a  cask  for  a  certain  period;  also  called  " mahkoolah  ",  after  a  Russian  brewer. 
LAABAS  (Russian). — Drying  or  hanging  frame  for  meat  and  fish. 
LAAPKA  (Russian). — Storehouse,  or  store. 

LAASBUSTCHIE  (Russian). — Breeding-grounds  (literally,  "  a  place  where  seals  dry  off"). 
LIMMERSHIN  (Aleutian). — Anorthura  troglodytes;  wren.     (A  "chew  of  tobacco"). 
LOUGHTAK  (Russian). — Air  dried  skins  of  all  seals. 

LUPUS  (Russian). — Fulmarus  glatiahs,  var.  Eodgersi.    Fulmar.    A  large  species  of  petrel. 
MAASLUCKEN  (Aleutian). — Missing,  or  minus. 

MATKA  (Russian). — Mother;  appled  to  female  fur-seals  and  sea-lions. 
MEDVAIDSKI  (Russian). — Bears. 
MELCHISKA  (Russian) — Boy ;  urchin. 
MEES  (Russian). — Cape;  headland;  point. 
MISTA  (Russian). — Place;  spot. 

MOROSHKA  (Russian). — The  fruit  of  Rubus  chamcemorus.    "Little  frost  berry." 
MORSEZOVI A  (Russian). — Walrus  island ;  also,  "  Morserovia  ". 
MORSKIE  KOT  (Russian). — Fur-seals  ("sea-cat"). 

NAHVOSTOKE  (Russian). — "To  the  eastward";  applied  to  the.Black  Bluffs  on  St.  Paul. 
NAHSAYVERNIA  (Russian). — "To  or  on  the  north  shore." 
NAH  SPEEL  (Russian). — ';On  the  point";  a  corruption  of  "nah  speetsah". 
NEARHPAH  (Russian). — Phoca  vitulina.    The  hair-seal. 

NOVASTOSHNAH  (Russian). — "Place  of  recent  growth";  applied  to  Northeast  point. 
OCHEN  (Russian). — Very. 

OOTKIE  (Russian). — Duck ;  applied  to  all  ducks. 
OREEL  (Russian). — Graculus  Mcriatatus.    Shag,  cormorant. 
OSTROV  (Russia;)).— Island. 
PAHKNOOT  (Russian). — A  smell. 

PAHTOSHKIE  (Russian). — Leucosticte  tcplirocotis  var.  griseinucha.    Gray-eared  finch. 
PEESAICH,  pi.  PEESTCHEE  (Russian). — Vulpes  lagopus.    Blue  and  white  foxes. 
POD  (English). — A  smaller  or  larger  gathering  of  seals  on  land. 
POLAVINA  SOPKA  (Russian). — Halfway  mountain. 
POLTOOS  (Russian). — Hippoglossus  vulgaris.    Halibut. 
POMEERAT  (Russian). — To  die;  applied  only  to  the  decease  of  animals. 
PREOASHCHIK  (Russian). — An  agent;  a  clerk;  a  sheriff. 
PREDOVCHIK  (Russian).— The  "senior  officer". 
PROMYSHLENIK  (Russian). — A  hunter. 
POVARNIK  (Russian). — A  cook-room. 

PUP  (English). — The  young  of  the  fur-seal  and  sea-lion,  up  to  the  age  of  one  year. 
RAAK  (Russian). — The  common  crab.     (Chionoeocetes.) 
RAHKOOSHKA  (Russian). — The  common  mussel.    (Mytilus.) 
RAP-O-LOOF  (Russian). — Turdus  migratorius.    Red-breasted  Robin. 
RAZBOINEK  (Russian).— Robber. 
REPKIE  (Russian). — EcMnoidce.    Sea-urchins. 
ROOKERY,  pi.  ROOKERIES  (English).— Breeding-grounds  and  breeding-seals  thereon. 


THE  FUR-SEAL  ISLANDS  OF  ALASKA. 


175 


SAAFKA  (Russian). — Harelda  glacialis.    "Old  squaw,"  long-tailed  duck. 

SCOOCHNIE  (Russian). — Tiresome;  lonesome. 

SEECATCH,  pi.  SEECATCHIE  (Russian). — Male  fur-seal  and  sea-lion,  full  grown. 

SEEVITCH,  pi.  SEEYITCHEE  (Russian). — Sea-lion,  collectively. 

SEROTNAH  (Russian). — "Just  like  it." 

SHEKSAH  (Russian). — Empetrum  nigrum.  Vine  and  fruit  thereof.    The  "crowberry"  of  English  botanists. 

SNAGUISKIE  (Russian). — Plcctrophanes  nivalis.    The  snow  bird. 

STAROOKA  (Russian). — An  old  woman. 

STAREEK  (Russian). — An  old  man. 

STOORMAN  (Russian). — Ship's  mate. 

TALXEEK  (Russian). — Salix.    All  the  creeping  willows  are  thus  named. 

TARBOSSA  (Russian). — Native  boots  made  of  the  flippers,  throats,  and  intestines  of  the  Pinnipedia. 

TAWPORKIE  (Russian). — Fratercula  cirrhata.    Tufted  puffin;  from  its  hatche*-like  bilL 

TAYOPLI  (Russian). — Warm. 

TOLSTOI  (Russian). — Thick. 

TONKIE  MEES  (Russian). — Little  or  peaked  cape. 

TREESCA  (Russian). — Gadm  morrhua.    Codfish. 

[~x  KOXCHIELSAH  (Russian). — "  He  has  finished."    The  refined  reference  to  human  death ;  never  applied  to  animals. 

VARRONE  (Russian). — Corvm  corax.    Raven. 

VESOLIA  MISTA  (Russian). — Jolly  place. 

WHALE  BIND  (English). — The  skin  of  the  whale. 

WIG  (English). — That  light  buff-colored  patch  on  the  shoulders  of  the  seecatchie. 

ZAPOOSKA  (Russian). — A  saving  of,  or  sparing  of.  • 

ZOOBADEX  (Russian). — "Tooth  cut;  tooth  bitten." 


42.  WEIGHTS,  MEASURES,  AND  VALUES. 

I  introduce  the  following  brief  tables  of  Russian  weights,  measures,  and  values,  in  order  that  the  occasional 
mention  made  by  Veniaminov,  in  this  respect,  may  be  clearly  understood,  and  also  to  assist  any  inquiring  individual 
who  may  be  disposed  to  read  up  Russian  authorities  on  the  subject  of  their  travel,  geographical  research,  and  fur- 
trade  in  Alaska. 


WEIGHTS. 

1  zolotnik  =   6     English  grains  av. 
3zolotnik  =   1      "Lot". 
32  "lots"    =  1      English  ponnd  av. 
1  pood       =  3G-,J(j  English  pounds  av. 

MEASURES. 

1  arsheen    =  28    English  inches. 
1  vershoak  =  If  English  inches. 
I  sajeen       =   7    English  feet. 
3  versts       —  2    English  miles. 


MONEY. 

1  copper  kopeck   =  1  silver  kopeck. 

2  copper  kopecks  =  1  grosh. 

3  copper  kopecks  =  1  alteen. 

5  copper  kopecks  =  1  peetack. 
5  silver  kopecks    =  1  peetak. 

=  1  greevnah. 

=  1  peteealtin. 

=  1  dvoogreevenik. 

=  1  chetvertak. 

=  1  polteenah. 

=  1  ruble.* 


10  silver  kopecks 
15  silver  kopecks 
20  silver  kopecks 
25  silver  kopecks 
50  f  ilver  kopecks 
100  silver  kopecks 


The  gold  coinage  of  Russia  is  seldom  seen,  even  at  home,  and  never  has  been  used  in  Alaska;  the  form  of  its 
toinage  is  known  to  Russians  as  an  "  Imperiale  ",  and  is  equal  to  about  $5  of  our  currency. 

The  word  "ruble",  according  to  Mr.  S.  N.  Biiynitskie,  comes  from  the  Russian  "roobeet",  or,  to  hew  with  a 
hatchet,  because  the  practice  of  notching  the  bullion  bars,  as  specified  below,  was  one  that  called  for  the  use  of  a 
little  ax  for  that  purpose.  In  1G34  rubles  were  first  introduced  to  Russia,  at  Moscow,  in  the  form  of  bullion  bars, 
with  deep  notches  in  them,  "  rubli,"'  which  enabled  the  possessor  to  detach  as  much  of  the  bar  as  his  payment 
might  require;  hence  the  origin  of  the  word  ruble;  the  first  silver  money  of  Russia  was  coined  at  Novogorod  in 


1420;  it  was  struck  in  small  pieces,  which  were  then,  as  now,  called 


the  present  value  of  the  kopeck  is 


not  quite  f  of  1  cent  (United  States  currency).    Nearly  all  the  ordinary  business  calculations  of  Russia  are  made 
upon  the  basis  of  kopecks.  At  present,  specie  has  substantially  disappeared  in  that  country,  and  depreciated  paper  is 

'The  silver  ruble  is  nearly  equal  to  75  cents  in  our  coin.  The  paper  ruble  fluctuates  in  Russia  from  40  to  50  cents,  specie  value; 
in  Alaska,  it  was  rated  at  20  cents,  silver.  Much  of  the  "paper"  currency  in  Alaska  during  Russian  rule  was  stamped  on  little  squares  of 
•walrus  hide. 


176  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  representative;  the  silver  kopeck  no  longer  exists  as  current  coin.  The  copper  kopeck  bears  on  its  obverse  side 
the  figure  of  St.  George  spearing  a  dragon:  "from  this  spear,"  says  Georgi,  "called  kapcea  in  Russian,  the  term 
Tcopeck  has  been  derived." 

A  still  smaller  coin,  called  the  "jpotoosMa",  worth  \  kopeck,  has  been  used  in  Russia;  it  takes  its  name  from  a 
hare  skin,  "oos/tfca",  or  "little  ears",  which,  before  the  use  of  money  by  the  Sclavs,  was  one  of  the  lowest  articles  of 
exchange;  pol  signifying  half,  and polooshka,  iialfa  hare's  skin.  From  another  small  coin,  the  "deinga"  (equal  to  £ 
kopeck  in  value),  is  derived  the  Russian  word  for  money,  deingah  or  deingie.* 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  interesting  to  add  to  this  mention  of  the  coin  used  on  the  seal  islands  and  in  the 
fur-trade  transactions  of  Alaska,  that  the  first  piece  of  stamped  money  known  to  the  numismatic  records  is  a  small 
coin  made  by  the  Phocians  about  700  B.  0.,  on  the  obverse  side  of  which  was  the  figure  of  a  seal,  so  stamped 
because  when  these  people  were  emigrating  their  boats  were  "followed  by  shoals  of  seals". 

*  As  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  the  aboTO  expression  of  Russian  nomenclature,  regarding  the  subjects  named,  is  the  first  correct  rendition 
made  in  the  English  language  of  the  same.  Clarke  [Travels:  1800]  gives,  on  a  fly-leaf  '>f  introduction  to  his  interesting  and  graphic 
picture  of  Russian  life  and  country,  these  items  of  weight,  measure,  and  money,  nearly  all  correct  as  to  figures,  but  haidly  one  of  the 
Mnscovitic  equivalents  is  properly  pronounced  and  spelled  in  accordance.  He  frankly  confesses  his  ignorance,  however,  of  the  Russian 
language,  and  hence  bars  out  all  adverse  criticism  thereby.  I  should  also  add  that  I  have,  as  far  as  possible,  refrained  from  using  any  of 
the  Aleutian  nomenclature  on  the  seal-islands,  for  the  simple  reason  that  while  those  natives  do  not,  in  talking  among  themselves,  employ 
the  above  Russian  titles,  yet  when  they  address  us  they  do,  and  hence  the  Slavonian  designations  are  those  which  all  races  up  there  agree 
upon  in  their  definition  and  application. 


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